Study at Cambridge About the University Research at Cambridge Quick links Home About us History of PDN Centenary of the physiological laboratory Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience Home About us People Undergraduate teaching Postgraduate Postdocs News Research Jobs and studentships Intranet Bryan Matthews Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience About us History of PDN Centenary of the physiological laboratory Edgar Adrian Joseph Barcroft Robert Edwards Michael Foster Archibald Hill Alan Hodgkin and Andrew Huxley John Langley Bryan Matthews Roger Tsien Anatomy past and present History of the Physiological Laboratory History of Veterinary anatomy The merger of Anatomy and Physiology Past events Sir Bryan Matthews came up to Cambridge in the 1920s to read Natural Sciences and continued in Cambridge as a research student with Lord Adrian. He made significant contributions to physiology, including his work on the nerve fibres carrying information from sensory elements of muscles, the muscle spindle, and his use of electroencephalography (EEG)- the measurement of electrical activity in the brain. Pivotal to this work was Sir Bryan's development of revolutionary technology: the Matthew's Oscillograph for capturing nerve activity, and the differential amplifier for high gain, low noise recording of electrical activity in biological systems (including EEG), which is still widely used today in Physiology and beyond. At the Matthews display, his original equipment will be on display, and we will show examples of how devices based on these are used to make physiological measurements. In addition, Sir Bryan made many contributions to public life, as Head of RAF Institute of Aviation Medicine (1944–46) at Farnborough and work for the first ascent of Everest (1953 High Altitude Committee). The photograph to the right shows the interior of a decompression chamber used by Sir Bryan at Farnborough. Sir Bryan Matthews was the Professor of Physiology in Cambridge 1952-1973 and a Fellow of King’s College. Postal Address Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience University of Cambridge Downing Street Cambridge Information provided by: reception@pdn.cam.ac.uk Contact Us Anatomy Building CB2 3DY Tel: +44 (0)1223 333750 Physiological Laboratory CB2 3EG Tel: +44 (0)1223 333899 Fax: +44 (0)1223 333840 PDN resources Teaching timetable PDN phone book Room bookings Meeting room planner Staff photo gallery Graduate photo gallery Anatomy Visual Media Group (AVMG) Webmaster webmaster@pdn.cam.ac.uk Privacy policy © 2021 University of Cambridge University A-Z Contact the University Accessibility Freedom of information Terms and conditions Study at Cambridge Undergraduate Postgraduate International students Continuing education Executive and professional education Courses in education About the University How the University and Colleges work Visiting the University Map News Events Jobs Giving to Cambridge Research at Cambridge News Features Discussion Spotlight on... About research at Cambridge