Jump to content

Aristides Leão

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by WikiCleanerBot (talk | contribs) at 09:35, 22 November 2021 (v2.04b - Bot T5 CW#16 - Fix errors for CW project (Unicode control characters)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Aristides Leão
Aristides early 1940s
Born(1914-08-03)August 3, 1914
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
DiedDecember 14, 1993(1993-12-14) (aged 79)
São Paulo, Brazil
Resting placeRio de Janeiro
Alma materFMUSP [pt] (graduation)
Harvard University (M.A., 1942 - PhD, 1943[6])
Known forDiscover of the Leão's Wave
SpouseElisabeth Raja Gabaglia Leão[7] aka Elisabeth Pacheco Leão[8]
RelativesCandido Portinari (brother-in-law)[9]
AwardsGrand Cross of the National Order of Scientific Merit (1994)[1]
Scientific career
FieldsNeurophysiology
InstitutionsFederal University of Rio de Janeiro
Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho [pt]
ThesisSpreading depression of activity in the cerebral cortex (1944)
Doctoral advisorArturo Rosenblueth[2][3]
Hallowell Davis[4][3]

Aristides Azevedo Pacheco Leão (Rio de Janeiro August 3, 1914 - São Paulo, December 14, 1993[10]) was a Brazilian neurophysiologist, researcher and university professor.

Grand Cross of the National Order of Scientific Merit[11] and a full member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences,[12] Aristides discovered and described the spreading depression, which also became known as "The Leão's Wave". This depression is a reaction in the cerebral cortex that can be induced by touch or electric shock.[13] Its description helps in the diagnosis of diseases such as epilepsy and migraine. It occurs not only in the brain, but also in other neural structures.[14]

Aristides was president of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences between 1967 and 1981 and defended scientists persecuted by the military dictatoship, besides having created scientific publications and having closed important scientific collaborations of the academy. Elected president emeritus of the institution, the academy's library now bears his name.[15]

Biography

Aristides was born in August 3, 1914,[16] from a traditional family in the city of Rio de Janeiro, being the youngest of seven siblings. He never met his father, Manoel Pacheco Leão, who died shortly before Aristides was born. His mother, the painter Francisca Azevedo Leão, raised the children alone, with the help of her brother-in-law, the biologist and director of the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden, Antônio Pacheco Leão, to help in the children's education.[17][18] While living in a large house in the Laranjeiras neighborhood, the family was also helped by a British nanny of whom no records exist.[19]

Aristides entered the São Paulo School of Medicine, in 1932, at the age of 18.[18] However, he got tuberculosis in his second year and had to stop the course for two years,[20] going for treatment in Belo Horizonte.[21] When he recovered, he decided he would like to work in scientific research and left for the United States in 1941 where he was admitted to Harvard University Medical School. He received his master's degree in 1942 and his doctorate of science in 1943.[22]

Career

Team in the biophysics lab.

In 1943, he became an adjunct researcher at Harvard's Department of Anatomy, where he identified the phenomenon of spreading depression,[23] and although he had the opportunity to work in the United States, he preferred to return to Brazil in 1944, at the age of 32.[24][21] Upon his return, he was appointed Specialized Technician of the Chair of Biological Physics (1945) at the National School of Medicine of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.[citation needed]

Invited by Carlos Chagas Filho, he joined the new Biophysics Institute, which was still being structured. There he could work with Gustavo de Oliveira Castro, Romualdo José do Carmo and Hiss Martins Ferreira [pt],[25] where he did his work on spreading depression. The instruments in his laboratory in Brazil were salvaged from scrap metal, but they were so carefully maintained that they were always ready for use,[26] but despite the conditions, he did not abandon his work[23] and so published his first article in Brazil.[21] His first article on spreading depression, 'Spreading depression of electrical activity in the cerebral cortex' caused the world to start calling the phenomenon Leão's spreading depression.[27]

Aristides was director of the institute (1966-1970) and emeritus head of the neurobiology department (1984-1993). He became an associate of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (1948)[28] and full member (1951) and was its vice-president (1955-1957/1965-1967) and president for seven consecutive terms (1967-1981).[29] He was a member of the Deliberative Council at CNPq (1960-74) and then its scientific advisor (1975-84).[30][21] During the Brazilian military dictatorship, as President of the ABC, he also defended the Revista Brasileira de Biologia (Brazilian Journal of Biology), after its editors were arrested by the repression.[31] Also when president he encouraged scientific cooperation between Brazil and other countries.[21]

After the cesium leak in Goiânia, in 1988, he became the president of the State Commission of Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety, newly created at the time.[32] Between 1985 and 1991, he participated in the Planning and Science and Technology Secretariats of the Presidency of the Republic, as member and president of the Special Follow-up Group (GEA) of the Scientific Development Support Program (PADCT).[33]

After his mandatory retirement, he was named Laboratory Head Emeritus of the Department of Neurobiology of the Carlos Chagas Filho Biophysics Institute, where he remained for nine more years as a CNPq research fellow.[34]

Leão's Wave

Main article: Cortical spreading depression
Spreading Depolarization seen using Intrinsic optical signal imaging in gyrencephalic brain. Speed 50x.

Aristides Leão discovered the phenomenon while working on his thesis at Harvard in 1944. He named the phenomenon "spreading depression", but it became known as "the Leão's wave". The true causes of this depression are not known, but it can be induced by electric shocks. The description of this illness helped in the diagnosis of other diseases such as epilepsy. According to Leão's later investigations, it occurs not only in the brain, but also in other neural structures.[14] His research on spreading depression is still widely cited within the medical literature[3] and the spreading depression, in the case of brain damage, can be reversed provided that the blood flow is restored quickly.[a] However, there is no guarantee that the neurons may survive.[36]

History of Discovery

The earliest origin of what has come to be known as spreading depression dates back to 1906, when Sir. William Richard Gowers, in a lecture on epilepsy, noted that “a peculiar spreading disturbance of the nerve structures is evident” and that lasts for several minutes, something that was confirmed and described by Aristides Leão in this way:[37]

While working on his PhD thesis at Harvard under the supervision of Hallowell Davis, Leão aimed to study "experimental "epilepsy". To perform the experiment he opened anesthetized rabbit skulls and placed a row of silver electrodes in contact with the cortical surface, with two serving for stimulation.[13] However, instead of a seizure-like discharge, the stimulation was followed by a flattening of the brain waves in a kind of domino effect, which recovered in the same way.[13]

Somjen 2005 questions whether the ease with which this phenomenon can be caused did not cause other researchers to have observed it before Leão and dismissed it as an "annoying interruption of work" and goes on to say that this phenomenon intrigued him and became the main topic of Aristides' work, with his first article (Leão 1944a) demonstrating the basic characteristics that have been confirmed by other researchers.[13] In a following article (Leão 1944b) he described how blood vessels behave during the event.[13]

The third article (Leão 1947) in focus by Somjen 2005, made after Leão's return to Rio de Janeiro, deals with the slow voltage change that accompanies the phenomenon and the complete cerebral ischemia.[13] Over the years other articles on the subject have been done, but it is still not understood why the spreading depression occurs.[38]

Awards

The researcher is also remembered for his outstanding performance as president of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences between 1967 and 1981. His contribution to science earned him important scientific awards, such as the Einstein Award in 1961; the Prêmio Almirante Álvaro Alberto [pt] in 1973[39] and the Moinho Santista Award (now the Bunge Foundation Award), in 1974[40] and 1977.[41] He also received posthumous tribute from the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, whose library today bears his name,[42][29] being elected president emeritus of this institution on December 20, 1993.[43]

Death

Aristides died on December 14, 1993, in São Paulo, at the age of 79, due to respiratory failure. He was buried in Rio de Janeiro, in the family grave.[44]

Legacy

According to Rodrigo Polito at Uol, Aristides is the author of one of the most cited physiology articles in the world and has dedicated his life to the development of science in his native country.[23]

In 2002 it was demonstrated that depolarization occurs in human brains[36] and in 2018, the article "Terminal spreading depolarization and electrical silence in death of human cerebral cortex", published in Annals of Neurology, for the first time revealed that the spreading depression described by Leão occurs in the human brain after the end of cardiac activity.[45][46][47][36] In a possible coincidence, co-author Jed Hartings discovered that the series Star Trek: The Next Generation had laid out this process in general form in the episode Skin of Evil in much the same way as the 2018 research, which leads co-researcher Jens Dreier to believe that the scriptwriters may have found similar research (or even Aristides') and used the premise.[48][49]

Personal life

Aristides enjoyed sport fishing,[50][51] classical composers, Brazilian popular music[52][53] and being considered by his colleagues as having a "prodigious culture", his ornithology collection surpassed that of the National Museum,[54][55] although he considered himself an amateur in the field.[56] In doing so, he also developed as a naturalist[57] and had in Charles Darwin his main reference.[58] He also behaved as a humble person, despite his academic position and achievements.[59] Jacques Veilliard [fr] considers Aristides to be the father of bioacoustics in Brazil.[55] Carlos Chagas Filho described him as "...one of the greatest scientists I knew, he was extremely simple and cultured, a great stimulator of research among young people and an exceptional professor of general and comparative physiology..."[60] who left a great number of disciples in Brazil and abroad, besides having had a great influence on the projection of the Institute of Biophysics as an institution of excellence abroad.[61]

Scientific papers

  • Leão, Aristides A. P. (1944a). "Spreading depression of activity in the cerebral cortex". J. Neurophysiology. 7 (6): 359–390. doi:10.1152/jn.1944.7.6.359.
  • Leão, Aristides A. P. (1944b). "Pial circulation and spreading depression of activity in the cerebral cortex". J. Neurophysiology. 7 (6): 391–396. doi:10.1152/jn.1944.7.6.391.
  • Leão, A. A. P.; Morison, R. S. (1945). "Propagation of spreading cortical depression". J. Neurophysiol. 8 (1): 22–45. doi:10.1152/jn.1945.8.1.33.
  • Leão, Aristides A. P. (1947). "Further observations on the spreading depression of activity in the cerebral cortex". J. Neurophysiology. 10 (6): 409–414. doi:10.1152/jn.1947.10.6.409.

References

  1. ^ (Ciência 2018)
  2. ^ (Botaro et al. 2020, 6:36)
  3. ^ a b c Maranhão-Filho & Vincent 2009, p. 110.
  4. ^ (Botaro et al. 2020, 7:02)
  5. ^ (Botaro et al. 2020, 10:01)
  6. ^ (Negreiros et al. 2014, p. 2)
  7. ^ (Botaro et al. 2020, 7:02)(Engelhardt & Gomes 2015, p. 544)
  8. ^ (Velloso & Gitirana 2001, p. 456)
  9. ^ (Maranhão-Filho & Vincent 2009, p. 111)
  10. ^ (Engelhardt & Gomes 2015, p. 544)
  11. ^ Ciência 2018.
  12. ^ (Negreiros et al. 2014, p. 2)
  13. ^ a b c d e f Somjen 2005, p. 2.
  14. ^ a b Engelhardt & Gomes 2015, p. 545.
  15. ^ Duque-Estrada.
  16. ^ Ciência 2014.
  17. ^ (Negreiros et al. 2014, p. 2)(Botaro et al. 2020, 01:29)
  18. ^ a b Maranhão-Filho & Vincent 2009, p. 112.
  19. ^ (Maranhão-Filho & Vincent 2009, pp. 111–112)
  20. ^ (Botaro et al. 2020, 03:09)(Engelhardt & Gomes 2015, p. 544)
  21. ^ a b c d e Maranhão-Filho & Vincent 2009, p. 113.
  22. ^ (Engelhardt & Gomes 2015, p. 544)(Negreiros et al. 2014, p. 2)
  23. ^ a b c Polito 2003.
  24. ^ (Engelhardt & Gomes 2015, p. 544)
  25. ^ (Engelhardt & Gomes 2015, p. 544)
  26. ^ (Botaro et al. 2020, 05:23, 06:42)
  27. ^ Velloso & Gitirana 2001, p. 455.
  28. ^ (Engelhardt & Gomes 2015, p. 544)
  29. ^ a b Velloso & Gitirana 2001, p. 454.
  30. ^ (Negreiros et al. 2014, p. 2)
  31. ^ (Botaro et al. 2020, 19:35)
  32. ^ (Negreiros et al. 2014, p. 2)
  33. ^ (Negreiros et al. 2014, p. 3)
  34. ^ (Negreiros et al. 2014, p. 3)
  35. ^ Thompson 2018.
  36. ^ a b c Fessl 2018.
  37. ^ Rogawski 2012, p. 6.
  38. ^ Somjen 2005, p. 3.
  39. ^ (Botaro et al. 2020, 14:25)
  40. ^ (Botaro et al. 2020, 15:34)
  41. ^ (Negreiros et al. 2014, p. 3)
  42. ^ (Negreiros et al. 2014, p. 3)
  43. ^ (Botaro et al. 2020, 22:53)(Engelhardt & Gomes 2015, p. 544)
  44. ^ (Engelhardt & Gomes 2015, p. 544)
  45. ^ Letzter 2018.
  46. ^ (Dreier et al. 2018)
  47. ^ Andrews 2018.
  48. ^ Alfering 2018.
  49. ^ Hale 2018.
  50. ^ (Botaro et al. 2020, 03:48)
  51. ^ Maranhão-Filho & Vincent 2009, p. 111.
  52. ^ (Botaro et al. 2020, 04:10)
  53. ^ Maranhão-Filho & Vincent 2009, p. 115.
  54. ^ (Botaro et al. 2020, 04:23)
  55. ^ a b Maranhão-Filho & Vincent 2009, p. 114.
  56. ^ (Botaro et al. 2020, 12:21)
  57. ^ (Botaro et al. 2020, 10:11)
  58. ^ (Maranhão-Filho & Vincent 2009, p. 114)
  59. ^ (Botaro et al. 2020, 10:48)(Negreiros et al. 2014, p. 3)
  60. ^ Filho 2000, p. 102.
  61. ^ Filho 2000, p. 103.

Note

  1. ^ Jed Hartings in 2018 said that the process, in the case of patient death, is reversible within the first 10 minutes.[35]

Bibliography

See also


Preceded by President of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences
1967-1981 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aristides_Leão&oldid=1056531142"