Seventy years since the invention of the averaging technique in Neurophysiology: Tribute to George Duncan Dawson

Arq Neuropsiquiatr. 2022 Feb;80(2):208-210. doi: 10.1590/0004-282X-ANP-2021-0263.

Abstract

In 1951, the physiologist George Duncan Dawson presented his work with the averaging of the signal in the evoked potentials (EPs), opening a new stage in the development of clinical neurophysiology. The authors present aspects of Professor Dawson's biography and a review of his work on the EPs and, mainly, the article reveals the new technique in detail that would allow the growth of the clinical application of the visual, auditory, and somatosensory EPs.

Em 1951 o fisiologista George Duncan Dawson apresentou seu trabalho com a promediação de sinal nos potenciais evocados, abrindo uma nova etapa no desenvolvimento da neurofisiologia clínica. Os autores apresentam aspectos da biografia do professor Dawson e uma revisão de seus trabalhos sobre os potenciais evocados, principalmente do artigo que mostrava a nova técnica, que viria a permitir o crescimento da aplicação clínica dos potenciais evocados visual, auditivo e somatossensitivo.

Publication types

  • Biography
  • Historical Article
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Evoked Potentials
  • Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory
  • Evoked Potentials, Visual
  • History, 20th Century
  • Humans
  • Inventions*
  • Neurophysiology* / methods

Personal name as subject

  • George Duncan Dawson