Neurophysiology in between the interests of Dom Pedro II of Brazil, and Charles Brown-Séquard

Résumé

This article presents our historical research regarding Charles Brown-Séquard, a famous scientist with important contributions to the medical field, in particular for neurology, and endocrinology, and his relationship with Dom Pedro II, the second and last Brazilian Emperor, and an enlightened ruler. The Emperor contacted several illustrious personages in support of State policy, such as for the development of experimental physiology at the Imperial Museum of Natural History, but also for personal purposes given his health problems and those of the Empress. Charles Brown-Séquard and his pilgrimage between different worlds as a physician and physiologist are presented until his definitive establishment in Paris, where he replaces Claude Bernard in the chair of experimental medicine at the Collège de France. Jacques-Arsene d'Arsonval took over after this chair, and together with Brown-Séquard, he electrophysiologically examined the Emperor's diabetic peripheral neuropathy. In this article, the Emperor´s relationship with BrownSéquard was studied mainly from the correspondence sent to Dom Pedro II and retrieved from the Imperial Museum in Petrópolis, Brazil, and from the accounts of his meetings that included scientific sessions and clinical consultations. This article can be used to understand the progress of knowledge in the field of neurology/clinical neurophysiology, the tracking of emerging ideas in the field of science in the past and the threat to the credibility of researchers.