BioelectricaAlterspan Labs
WBC
1871–1945

Walter Bradford Cannon

Cannon worked on the physiology of the gut, the adrenal glands and emotion. With Davenport, Cannon tested how water fleas respond to light12. Cannon proposed new terms for the movements of the intestine3. Crile cited the work on the adrenals and emotion56. Levin cites the 1932 book on homeostasis7.

Born
19 October 1871
Died
1 October 1945
In the library
1 work, named in 7 passages elsewhere
Facts from
Wikidata · Wikipedia · Open Library
18501875190019251950197520002025Driesch, H., 19081Loeb, J., 19122Bayliss, W. M., 19153Bayliss, W. M., 19154Crile, G. W., 19265Crile, G. W., 19266Levin M, 20197
01

Daphnia and light

Driesch cited an experiment on Daphnids by Davenport and Cannon (1897) in a note beside his discussion of memory as association by contiguity1. Loeb reported the result. Daphniae that reacted sluggishly to light at first reacted much more quickly after being made to go to the light a few times2. Loeb was inclined to attribute it to acids, such as carbon dioxide, produced in the animals by their own motion2.

02

Movements of the intestine

Bayliss, writing in 1915, used Cannon's terms for gut movement. Cannon (1912) proposed "diastalsis" for the forward wave, controlled by the myenteric reflex and preceded by inhibition. He proposed "ana- and cata-stalsis" for rhythmic waves up or down, which occur without that reflex and without a preceding inhibition3. Bayliss also referred readers to Cannon's 1911 monograph for further details on the intestine4.

03

Adrenals, emotion, homeostasis

Crile listed Cannon's 1914 paper on the emergency function of the adrenal medulla in pain and the major emotions6. He therefore expected morphin to lessen the brain temperature change that adrenalin produces, and reported that this happened5. Levin (2019) cites Cannon (1932) with Bernard and Wiener when he proposes homeostasis as the "atom" of a cognitive hierarchy7.

SourcesEach quotation was checked word for word against the passage it opens.
  1. Compare the experiment on Daphnids, carried out by Davenport and Cannon, Journ. of Physiol 21, 1897.Driesch, H., 1908 · The Science and Philosophy of the Organism · open at passage 237
  2. Davenport and Cannon found that Daphniae, which at the beginning of the experiment react sluggishly to light, react much more quickly after they have been made to go to the light a few times.Loeb, J., 1912 · The Mechanistic Conception of Life · open at passage 395
  3. but Cannon (1912) suggests, as a better terminology, the name " diastalsis " for the forward moving wave, controlled by the myenteric reflex and preceded by inhibitionBayliss, W. M., 1915 · Principles of General Physiology · open at passage 1624
  4. For further details the reader is referred to the monograph by Cannon (1911).Bayliss, W. M., 1915 · Principles of General Physiology · open at passage 1630
  5. since morphin stabilizes the organism, since one of the clinical effects of morphin is the elimination of emotion, and since the emotions probably excite the adrenals to increased activity (Cannon)Crile, G. W., 1926 · A Bipolar Theory of Living Processes · open at passage 58
  6. Cannon, W. B. The emergency function of the adrenal medulla in pain and the major emotions. Am. J. Physiol 1914, xxxiii,Crile, G. W., 1926 · A Bipolar Theory of Living Processes · open at passage 770
  7. I propose that the “atom” of this cognitive hierarchy is homeostasis (Bernard, 1865; Cannon, 1932; Wiener, 1961; Man and Damasio, 2019).Levin M, 2019 · The Computational Boundary of a "Self": Developmental Bioelectricity Drives… · open at passage 38
In the library1 work
The wisdom of the bodyCannon
1932
The wisdom of the body
Cannon
1932 · described