Walter Russell Brain, 1st Baron Brain (23 October 1895 – 29 December 1966) was a British neurologist. He was principal author of the standard work on neurology, Brain's Diseases of the Nervous System, and longtime editor of the neurological medical journal titled Brain. He is also eponymised with "Brain's reflex", a reflex exhibited by humans when assuming the quadrupedal position.[1][2]
After the war he returned to New College, and studied medicine, obtaining his BM BCh in 1922 and a DM in 1925; he specialised in neurology. Apart from his clinical practice, he was a member of a large number of government committees pertaining to physical and mental health, and was involved in the care of Winston Churchill on the latter's deathbed in 1965.
In 1964, he gave the presidential address (Science and Behaviour) to the British Association meeting in Southampton.[7] In this address he discussed how humanity was approaching the anthropocene and he reiterated Alfred North Whitehead's warning that "A muddled state of mind is prevalent. The increased plasticity of the environment for mankind, resulting from the advances in scientific technology, is being construed in terms of habits of thought which find their justification in the theory of a fixed environment."[8]
He married Stella Langdon-Down and had two sons, Christopher (1926-2014)[9] and Michael Cottrell Brain (b. 1928) and one daughter, Janet Stella Brain (b. 1931). Janet went on to marry Dr. Leonard Arthur. Christopher Langdon Brain succeeded his father as the 2nd Baron Brain.[10] Upon the 2nd Baron's death in 2014, his brother, Michael, succeeded as 3rd Baron Brain.
Religious beliefs
He became a Quaker in 1931 and gave the Swarthmore Lecture in 1944, 'Man, society and religion', in which he stressed the importance of a social conscience.
Arms
Coat of arms of Russell Brain, 1st Baron Brain
Crest
A falcon Sable armed and belled Or supporting with the dexter claw a representation of the Silver Staff of Office of the President of the Royal College of Physicians of London Proper.
Escutcheon
Per pale Or and Argent three cats' heads erased Gules.
^Burton, K. J.; Renn, D. F. (September 1965). "The British Association for the Advancement of Science: The Southampton Meeting". Journal of the Institute of Actuaries. 91 (2): 199–202. doi:10.1017/S0020268100038774. JSTOR41140083.
^Hertz, David (1965). "The Unity of Science and Management". Management Science. 11 (6 series B): B89 –B97. doi:10.1287/mnsc.11.6.b89.
