Corneille Jean François Heymans (28 March 1892 – 18 July 1968) was a Belgian

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out chemical and ...

. He studied at the Jesuit College of Saint Barbara and then at

Ghent University Ghent University (, abbreviated as UGent) is a Public university, public research university located in Ghent, in the East Flanders province of Belgium. Located in Flanders, Ghent University is the second largest Belgian university, consisting o ...

, where he obtained a doctor's degree in 1920. Heymans won the

Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine () is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute, Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single ...

in 1938 for showing how

blood pressure Blood pressure (BP) is the pressure of Circulatory system, circulating blood against the walls of blood vessels. Most of this pressure results from the heart pumping blood through the circulatory system. When used without qualification, the term ...

and the

oxygen Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...

content of the

blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood is com ...

are measured by the body and transmitted to the

brain The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...

Early life and education

After graduation Heymans worked at the Collège de France (under Prof. E. Gley), the

University of Lausanne The University of Lausanne (UNIL; ) in Lausanne, Switzerland, was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second-oldest in Switzerland, and one of the oldest universities ...

(under Prof. M. Arthus), the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

(under Prof. H. H. Meyer),

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

(under Prof. E. H. Starling) and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine (under Prof. C. F. Wiggers). In 1922 Heymans became lecturer in Pharmacodynamics at

, and in 1930 succeeded his father, Jean-François Heymans, as Professor of Pharmacology, as well as being appointed Head of the Department of Pharmacology, Pharmacodynamics, and Toxicology; and Director of the J. F. Heymans Institute.

Research

Heymans was awarded the

in 1938 for showing how

and the

content of the

are measured in the body and transmitted to the

via the nerves and not by the blood itself. Heymans accomplished this by

vivisection Vivisection () is surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure. The word is, more broadly, used as a pejorative catch-all term for Animal test ...

of two dogs, the head of one connected to its body only by nerves, and the second one's body was used to cross-perfuse (supply blood) to the first dog's head. Heymans found that the first dog's upward and downward cardiovascular reflex arc traffic were carried by its own

vagus nerve The vagus nerve, also known as the tenth cranial nerve (CN X), plays a crucial role in the autonomic nervous system, which is responsible for regulating involuntary functions within the human body. This nerve carries both sensory and motor fibe ...

s, but agents introduced to the second dog's blood, which served the first dog's brain, had no effect. He used a similar experiment to demonstrate the role of

peripheral A peripheral device, or simply peripheral, is an auxiliary hardware device that a computer uses to transfer information externally. A peripheral is a hardware component that is accessible to and controlled by a computer but is not a core compo ...

chemoreceptors A chemoreceptor, also known as chemosensor, is a specialized sensory receptor which transduces a chemical substance ( endogenous or induced) to generate a biological signal. This signal may be in the form of an action potential, if the chemorece ...

in respiratory regulation, for which he received his Nobel Prize. He was the Editor-in-Chief of '' Archives Internationales de Pharmacodynamie et de Thérapie'' for many years. His memberships included the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the Académie des Sciences, and the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

. The group of physiopharmacologists working under Heymans at Ghent University were looking for the anatomical basis of the respiratory reflex at the

carotid sinus In human anatomy, the carotid sinus is a dilated area at the base of the internal carotid artery just superior to the bifurcation of the internal carotid and external carotid at the level of the superior border of thyroid cartilage. The carot ...

. It was necessary that the Spanish neurohistologist Fernando de Castro Rodríguez (1898–1967) described in detail the innervation of the aorta-carotid region, circumscribing the presence of baroreceptors to the carotid sinus, but that of chemoreceptors to the carotid body, for the Belgian group to move their focus from the first to the very small second structure to physiologically demonstrate the nature and function of the first blood chemoreceptors. The contribution of the young De Castro, maybe the last direct disciple of Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852–1934; awarded the 1906 Nobel prize in Physiology or Medicine) was overlooked at the time, but it was later recognized that he deserved to share the Nobel Prize with Heymans, his colleague and friend.

Personal life

Heymans married Berthe May (1892–1974), an ophthalmologist, in 1929 and had five children. He died in Knokke from a stroke.

Honours and awards

* Heymans (crater) on the Moon *

(1938) * Member,

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

(1962)

References

External links

* including the Nobel Lecture on 12 December 1945 ''The Part Played by Vascular Presso- and Chemo-Receptors in Respiratory Control''
Corneille Heymans, (1892–1968), Nobel Prize Winner in Physiology and Medicine 1938The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics: The First Sixty Years – 1908–1969 p.145
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heymans, Corneille 1892 births 1968 deaths Academics of University College London Scientists from Ghent Academic staff of Ghent University Belgian physiologists Belgian Nobel laureates Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine Members of the French Academy of Sciences Ghent University alumni Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Members of the American Philosophical Society