Adrian, Edgar Douglas (redirected from Edgar Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian)

Adrian, Edgar Douglas

 later 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridge

(born Nov. 30, 1889, London, Eng.—died Aug. 4, 1977, London) British electrophysiologist. He amplified electrical potential variations in nerve impulses from sense organs to record ever smaller changes, eventually recording impulses from single sensory endings and motor nerve fibres. His work clarified the physical basis of sensation and the mechanism of muscular control. Adrian's later studies of brain electrical activity included investigations into epilepsy and the location of cerebral lesions. He shared a 1932 Nobel Prize with Charles Sherrington.

---

Adrian, Edgar Douglas 

Born Nov. 30, 1889, in London; died there Aug. 4, 1977. English physiologist. Fellow of the Royal Society of London (from 1923; president, 1950–55). Student of K. Lucas.

Adrian graduated from Cambridge University in 1915 and then lectured on physiology at Trinity College, where he became a professor in 1937; beginning in 1951 he was master of Trinity College. Adrian’s research was primarily devoted to the electrophysiology of the sense organs and nerve conductors. Adrian, a brilliant experimenter, was a pioneer in the use of electronics in physiological research. He was the first to perform experiments on individual nerve fibers and nerve endings. His research led to the wide use of the all-or-none law. Beginning in 1934, Adrian worked on the electrophysiology and functional disturbances of the brain. He received a Nobel Prize in 1932, with C. Sherrington.

WORKS

The Physical Background of Perception. Oxford, 1947.
Factors in Mental Evolution. Oxford, 1960.
In Russian translation:
Osnovy oshchushchenii: Deiatel’nost’ organov chuvstv. Moscow, 1931.
Mekhanizm nervnoi deiatel’nosti. Moscow-Leningrad, 1935.

L. G. MAGAZANIK