Peter Bryan Conrad Matthews (23 December 1928 – 2 March 2020) was a British physiologist who made particular contributions to the study of

muscle spindle Muscle spindles are stretch receptors within the body of a skeletal muscle that primarily detect changes in the length of the muscle. They convey length information to the central nervous system via afferent nerve fibers. This information can be ...

s. He was elected as fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, r ...

in 1973. He was the Professor of Sensorimotor Physiology at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...

and a fellow of Christ Church. While in Oxford he worked on

proprioception Proprioception ( ), also referred to as kinaesthesia (or kinesthesia), is the sense of self-movement, force, and body position. It is sometimes described as the "sixth sense". Proprioception is mediated by proprioceptors, mechanosensory neurons ...

Biography

He was born in Cambridge to the physiologist Sir Bryan Harold Cabot Matthews and Rachel Eckhard. After schooling at

King's College School, Cambridge King's College School is a coeducational independent preparatory school for children aged 4 to 13 in Cambridge, England, situated on West Road off Grange Road, west of the city centre. It was founded to educate the choristers in the King's ...

he moved to

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. Founded in 1843 for the sons of Church ...

in 1942. He then studied Natural Sciences at

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...

, before moving to Oxford for studies in clinical medicine. He married Margaret Blears, an autonomic physiologist. Margaret (Matthews) became a Fellow at

Lady Margaret Hall Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, located on the banks of the River Cherwell at Norham Gardens in north Oxford and adjacent to the University Parks. The college is more formally ...

; they had two children, including Hugh Matthews, a Reader in Sensory Physiology at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. In 1956 he was appointed University Demonstrator in the Department of Physiology, Oxford, Dr Lee’s Reader in Anatomy in 1958 and Official Student (Fellow) at Christ Church, then becoming a University Lecturer in 1961. He subsequently became a Professor of Sensorimotor Physiology in Oxford, known particularly for his work on

Selected works

Monographs

Journal articles

References

1928 births 2020 deaths English physiologists Fellows of Christ Church, Oxford People educated at Marlborough College Fellows of the Royal Society {{England-academic-bio-stub