F
Fernández Guardiola,
Augusto
Born in Madrid (Spain) on March 24, 1921.
Died in Mexico City on May 19, 2004.
Nuria Lanzagorta Piñol
Carracci Medical Group, Mexico, Mexico City,
Mexico
Keywords
Mexico · Spain · France · Cuba ·
Psychophysiology · Sleep · Epilepsy · Pain ·
Kindling
Dr. Fernández Guardiola was born into a liberal
family in Madrid’s iconic Lavapiés neighborhood.
His father was a graphic artist who drew with such
finesse that among other activities worked for
Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852–1934) artistically
reflecting the neural discoveries that the histologist made from the microscope. As a child,
Augusto was fortunate enough to meet the neuroscientist (Pérez-Rincón, 2004).
After the proclamation of the Second Spanish
Republic, the Civil War broke out in 1936. During
this time, Augusto had his first encounter with
electrical activity, joining the Alpine Battalion of
the Republican Army of the Sierra de Madrid
repairing the communications cables. In 1939,
like thousands of republicans, the Fernández
Guardiola family was forced into exile
(Fernández-Mas et al., 2009).
From Spain they left for Algeria and in 1940
they arrived in Nicaragua. In Managua, Augusto
joined the Pan American Public Health Service as
a research assistant with Dr. Rosenfeld
(1913–1990). Later, he was head of a tropical
wildlife laboratory in the City of Corinth in Nicaragua where he studied mainly malaria mosquitoes. It was in 1944 that Augusto and his family
decided to emigrate to Mexico (Fernández-Mas
et al., 2009).
After failing to enter the chemistry career by
oversaturation, Fernández Guardiola studied the
career of medicine at the Facultad de Medicina
(Faculty of Medicine) of the Universidad
Nacional Autónoma de México (National Autonomous University of Mexico) (UNAM) from
1946 to 1951. He specialized in neuropsychiatry
at the Escuela de Posgraduados de la UNAM
(UNAM Graduate School) from 1953 to 1955.
He was a student of leading specialists such as
Drs. Dionisio Nieto (1908–1985), Efrén Carlos
Del Pozo Rangel (1907–1979), Ramón de la
Fuente (1921–2006), and Arturo Rosenblueth
Stearns (1900–1970) (Pérez-Rincón, 2004).
At UNAM he was part of the Instituto de
Investigaciones Médicas y Biológicas (Institute
of Medical and Biological Research), actually
the Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas
(Institute of Biomedical Research), and later was
professor of the Colegio de Psicología (College of
Psychology) of the Facultad de Filosofía y Letras
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
A. M. Jacovilela et al. (eds.), The Palgrave Biographical Encyclopedia of Psychology in Latin America,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38726-6_24-1
2
(Faculty of Philosophy and Letters), actually the
Facultad de Psicología (Faculty of Psychology),
of which he became Professor Emeritus.
From 1958 to 1959, he studied a master’s
degree in physiology at the Faculté des Sciences
d’Aix-Marseille Université (France), where he
was also an associate researcher in the neurophysiological research group of Dr. Henri Gastaut
(1915–1995) together with Dr. Robert Naquet
(1923–2005). In that same school, he completed
his doctorate in biological sciences (1969) with
the thesis “La voie visuelle du Chat: mécanismes
de contrôle et de régulation” (The study of the
regulation of the visual pathway in the cat). In
1961 he made a postdoctoral stay at the University
of Oregon (Portland, USA) under the tutelage of
Dr. Robert S. Dow (1908–1995) (FernándezGuardiola, 1969; Pérez-Rincón, 2004).
In 1963 he founded in Cuba the Laboratorio de
Psicofisiología (Laboratory of Psychophysiology)
of the Instituto de Investigaciones de la Actividad
Nerviosa Superior (Institute of Research of the
Higher Nervous Activity) of the University of
Havana. Later in Mexico, in 1965 and 1968, he
headed the Departamento de Electrofisiología
Clínica Experimental (Department of Experimental Clinical Electrophysiology) of the Instituto
Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía
(National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery). He founded and directed the Unidad de
Investigaciones Cerebrales (Brain Research
Unit) at the same center and later, in conjunction
with Dr. Ramón de la Fuente (1921–2006), he was
part of the Instituto Mexicano de Psiquiatría
(Mexican Institute of Psychiatry), founding the
División de Investigaciones en Neurociencias
(Division of Research in Neurosciences) which
directed from 1979 to 2002 (Fernández-Mas
et al., 2009; Pérez-Rincón, 2004; Vargas Rangel,
2006).
Throughout his career, Fernández Guardiola
published more than 170 articles in scientific
journals, 40 outreach articles, and 3 books. His
texts have been quoted in more than 1250 publications. He disseminated his research papers at
around 500 scientific meetings, led more than
30 theses, and was member of various editorial
committees. Thanks to his scientific contribution,
Fernández Guardiola, Augusto
he was awarded many national and international
prizes, among them the “Dr. Eduardo Liceaga”
award of the Academia Nacional de Medicina
(National Academy of Medicine of Mexico)
(ANMM) (1975), the prize of the Chinoin Fund
“Alejandro Celis” of the ANMM (1977), the
Research Award “Miguel Otero y Arce” of the
Secretaría de Salud (Ministry of Health) (1980),
the Premio Nacional de Psiquiatría “Dr. Manuel
Camelo” (National Award of Psychiatry) (1987),
the Premio Universidad Nacional en el área de
Investigación en Ciencias Naturales (Award of
the National University in the area of Research
in Natural Sciences) (1992), the appointment as
Researcher Emeritus by the Sistema Nacional de
Investigadores (National System of Researchers)
(SNI) (1993), the “Dr. Maximiliano Ruiz
Castañeda” Award of the ANMM (1994), and the
Premio Nacional de Ciencias y Artes (National
Award for Sciences and Arts) (1999). In his quest
to help the promotion of science, he was a founding
partner of the Sociedad Mexicana de Ciencias
Fisiológicas (Mexican Society of Physiological
Sciences), the Society for Neuroscience, and the
Sociedad Mexicana de Epistemología (Mexican
Society of Epistemology). In Spain (1994), thanks
to the invitation of Dr. José M. Delgado García
(born 1945), Fernández-Guardiola participated in
the creation of the Escuela Iberoamericana de
Neurociencia (Ibero-American School of Neuroscience) of the Universidad Internacional de
Andalucía (International University of Andalucía)
(Huelva), whose master’s and doctoral programs
are currently used at the Universidad Pablo de
Olavide (Pablo de Olavide University) of Seville
(Delgado, 2004; Muñoz et al., 2005; Pérez-Rincón,
2004; Vargas Rangel, 2006).
Known in the guild as the father of psychophysiology in Mexico, Fernández Guardiola contributed to the study of brain physiological processes
that generate mental functions. Much of his
research was developed by exploiting in his experiments the “on” model (kindling) to explore the
electrophysiology of sleep, epilepsy, and pain. His
main lines of research explained the role of lattice
formation in sensory information processing, epilepsy pathophysiology, the role of endogenous opioids in different brain functions, the influence of
Fernández Guardiola, Augusto
melatonin and thyroxine-releasing hormone on the
brain, and the formation of consciousness (Colotla,
2016; Delgado, 2004; Fernández-Mas et al., 2009;
Vargas Rangel, 2006).
Throughout his life, Fernández Guardiola was
not only a scientist. In Nicaragua he was a professional soccer player, and as a follower of that
sport, he was a fan of Real Madrid and the
Pumas of UNAM. As a regular reader and lover
of poetry, at his home in Cuernavaca he met
various personalities from the intellectual, political, artistic, and cultural world. Some people
claim that Gabriel García Márquez (1927–2014)
wrote “One Hundred Years of Solitude” on a
typewriter borrowed by Fernández Guardiola
and that he inspired the character of the gypsy
Melquíades in the novel that gave the Premio
Nobel (Nobel Prize) to the Colombian writer
(Delgado, 2004; Fernández-Mas et al., 2009;
Pérez-Rincón, 2004).
Cross-References
▶ Ramón de la Fuente
▶ Dionisio Nieto
Selected Works
Antón-Tay, F., Díaz, J. L., & Fernández-Guardiola,
A. (1971). On the effect of melatonin upon
human brain. Its possible therapeutic implications. Life Sciences, 10(15), 841–850. https://
doi.org/10.1016/0024-3205(71)90155-X
Calvo, J. M., & Fernández-Guardiola, A. (1984).
Phasic activity of the Basolateral Amygdala,
Cingulate Gyrus, and Hippocampus During
REM Sleep in the Cat. Sleep, 7(3), 202–210.
https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/7.3.202
Condes-Lara, M., Calvo, J. M., & FernandezGuardiola, A. (1981). Habituation to bearable
experimental pain elicited by tooth pulp electrical stimulation. Pain, 11(2), 185–200.
https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3959(81)
90004-x
de Gortari, P., Fernández-Guardiola, A., Martinez,
A., Cisneros, M., & Joseph-Bravo, P. (1995).
3
Changes in TRH and its degrading enzyme
pyroglutamyl peptidase II, during the development of amygdaloid kindling. Brain Research,
679(1), 144–150. https://doi.org/10.1016/
0006-8993(95)00237-K
Dow, R. S., Fernández-Guardiola, A., & Manni,
E. (1962). The influence of the cerebellum on
experimental epilepsy. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 14(3),
383–398. https://doi.org/10.1016/00134694(62)90115-3
Fernández-Guardiola, A. (1970, July) Visual
pathways in the cat: mechanisms of control
and regulation. Boletin de estudios médicos y
biológicos, 26(7), 261–309.
Fernández-Guardiola, A., Martínez, A., ValdésCruz, A., Magdaleno-Madrigal, V. M., Martínez, D., & Fernández-Mas, R. (1999). Vagus
nerve prolonged stimulation in cats: Effects on
epileptogenesis (Amygdala Electrical Kindling): Behavioral and Electrographic
Changes. Epilepsia, 40(7), 822–829. https://
doi.org/10.1111/j.1528-1157.1999.tb00787.x
Magdaleno-Madrigal, V. M., Valdés-Cruz, A.,
Martínez-Vargas, D., Martínez, A., Almazán,
S., Fernández-Mas, R., & FernándezGuardiola, A. (2002). Effect of electrical stimulation of the nucleus of the solitary tract on the
development of electrical amygdaloid kindling
in the cat. Epilepsia, 43(9), 964–969. https://
doi.org/10.1046/j.1528-1157.2002.05702.x
Vindrola, O., Briones, R., Asai, M., & FernándezGuardiola, A. (1981). Amygdaloid kindling
enhances the enkephalin content in the rat
brain. Neuroscience Letters, 21(1), 39–43.
https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3940(81)90054-9
References
Colotla, V. (2016). La psicofisiología mexicana a través del
trabajo de tres investigadores: Raúl Hernández-Peón,
Dionisio Nieto y Augusto Fernández-Guardiola [Mexican Psychophysiology through the work of three
researchers: Raúl Hernández-Peón, Dionisio Nieto
and Augusto Fernández-Guardiola]. Revista Argentina
de Ciencias del Comportamiento, 8(2), 48–57. https://
doi.org/10.30882/1852.4206.v8.n2.10085
Delgado, J. M. (2004). In Memoriam. Augusto Fernández
Guardiola (1921–2004). Revista de Neurología,
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38(11), 1098–1100. https://doi.org/10.1002/cyto.b.
20585
Fernández-Guardiola, A. (1969). La Voie visuelle du chat:
mécanismes de contrôle et de régulation, Thèse de
doctorat en sciences biologiques. Université d’AixMarseille.
Fernández-Mas, R., Valdés-Cruz, A., MagdalenoMadrigal, V. M., Almazán-Alvarado, S., & MartínezVargas, D. (2009). A cinco años de la muerte de
Augusto Fernández–Guardiola: científico, amigo y
maestro [Five years after the death of Augusto
Fernández-Guardiola: scientist, friend and teacher].
Salud Mental, 32(6), 527–532.
Fernández Guardiola, Augusto
Muñoz, J. E., Brailowsky, S., Díaz, J. L., Delgado, J. M.,
Calvo, J. M., Mena, F., & Fernández-Guardiola,
A. (2005). Augusto Fernández Guardiola en y a su
memoria [Augusto Fernández Guardiola en y a su
memoria]. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de
México.
Pérez-Rincón, H. (2004). In memoriam Augusto
Fernández-Guardiola (1921–2004). Salud Mental,
27(3), 1–2.
Vargas Rangel, V. (2006). Augusto Fernández Guardiola,
un incansable científico [Augusto Fernández
Guardiola, a tireless scientist]. Ciencias, 84, 64–66.