The International Brain Commission (1903–1914): Dutch and Swiss Perspective (Towards Neurosciences beyond Borders)

We wish to highlight the political impact of neuroscientific societies as forums of cross-border communication from a historical point of view. We trace the efforts of Constantin von Monakow, a founder of Swiss Neurology, and Cornelis Winkler, one of the primary figures in the early years of Dutch neurology and psychiatry, to shape their medical fields in their countries of residence. The foundation of the International Brain Commission and the failing of its continuation after World War I is reflected by the struggle to constitute the Swiss Neurological Society and the Netherlands Society of Neurology and Psychiatry and to develop their specialties along with new scientific findings in brain research. How both neuroscientists, from politically neutral countries, set different focuses concerning future developments of their societies, as well as their specialties, raises important questions about the role of neurosciences in society and were discussed by neuroscientists between the wars: Von Monakow tried to emphasize the moral meaning of knowledge about the human brain, whereas Winkler was convinced that neurology should focus on scientific issues in the traditional way, without bringing moral or societal implications to the fore. The journal Swiss Archives of Neurology and Psychiatry, founded by Constantin von Monakow in 1917, represents a successful attempt to establish an organ of scientific communication against the background of challenging political circumstances.