| RefNo | EC/1975/10 |
| Previous numbers | Cert XIX, 158 |
| Level | Item |
| Title | Cross, Barry Albert: certificate of election to the Royal Society |
| Description | Citation typed |
| Citation | Distinguished for two major contributions. First, he showed that electrical stimulation of the supraopticohypophysial tract in the lactating rabbit elicits the milk-ejection reflex and that lesions placed in this tract block the reflex to the natural stimulus of suckling. Continuing this work, he demonstrated the physiological status of oxytocin in the reflex (before de Vigneaud's synthesis of this hormone). He also showed that emotional stimuli, acting via the sympathetico-adrenal system, inhibits the reflex mainly by blocking release of hormone from the neurohypophysis. Second, he has introduced unit recording of hypothalamic cells into the study of neuro-endocrine phenomena. The cells of the supraoptic and paraventricular nuclei were found to exhibit normal action potentials and to be sensitive to changes in the osmotic pressure of the blood. More recently he has shown that changes in the blood concentration of ovarian hormones alters the activity of hypothalamic neurones in a predictable way. Working with hypothalamic island preparations he has found an increased neuronal activity in the anterior hypothalamus on the day of pro-oestrus, thus indicating a relation to the normal stimulus underlying ovulation. A list of 61 publications is appended. |
| AccessStatus | Closed |
Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | PersonName | Dates |
| NA2138 | Cross; Sir; Barry Albert (1925 - 1994) | 1925 - 1994 |