The origins and early history of neurochemistry and its societies

Abstract

At the 2017 joint meeting of the International Society for Neurochemistry (ISN) and the European Society for Neurochemistry, 150 years of neurochemistry – the 50th anniversary of ISN, 40 years of European Society for Neurochemistry, and 60 years of the Journal of Neurochemistry (JNC) – was celebrated with a historical symposium that explored the foundations of neurochemical societies, key international figures in the discipline of neurochemistry, and the pre‐eminent role of the JNC. The foundations of neurochemistry were laid in Europe, notably France and Germany, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Neurochemists in the United Kingdom made globally relevant contributions before and after the Second World War, and Swedish contributions were especially prominent in the 1950s and 1960s. As neurochemistry is a truly international branch of neuroscience, the important contributions of neurochemists in the Americas and the Asia‐Pacific were also recognized, as were the seminal roles of the American, Asia‐Pacific, and Japanese Societies of Neurochemistry. Although ISN was only formed in 1967, earlier international meetings in Europe and the Americas reflected the growing recognition of the importance of chemistry and biochemistry for understanding and responding to the pathophysiology of clinical conditions and diseases of the central and peripheral nervous systems. JNC was first published in 1956, but the ISN only assumed complete ownership of the journal under tempestuous circumstances in 1970. The ISN‐JNC interface and the sterling work of the JNC Editors has meant that the income generated by the journal has allowed the ISN Council to implement diverse programs for supporting neurochemistry internationally, including sustaining regional neurochemical societies, and supporting neurochemists in the developing world and schools of neurochemistry.