The peripheral nerve: A neglected topic in Charcot's neurological work.

Jean-Martin Charcot (1825-1893) did not show much interest in the peripheral nervous system and its associated pathologies. He found it difficult to place the peripheral nerve within his classification of disorders; it appeared to be an exception to his theories. Even the pathology that he described in 1886 with Pierre Marie (1853-1940), at the same time as Henry Tooth (1856-1925), and which is now known as Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy, was considered by Charcot to be a potential myelopathy.

Beasts and Gods: Hippocampal quarrels before memory.

The first description and naming of the hippocampus is usually credited to Arantius (c. 1530 - 1589), whose comparison of the swelling inside the temporal horn of the lateral ventricle to a seahorse (hippocampus) or silkworm (bombyx) was published in the 1587 edition of the Anatomicarum Observationum Liber. However, in the 17 century, the term hippocampus was rarely used and its precise anatomy remained a mystery.

Treatments in Neurology: The Winding Road from 1897 to 2022.

Background: For many years, neurology was seen as a purely observational discipline, focused on pathology and with little interest in treatments.

Summary: From the creation in 1897 of Monatsschrift für Psychiatrie und Neurologie, the forebear of European Neurology, to nowadays, there have been great changes in the paradigms and concepts of treatments in neurology. We present an overview of the evolution of neurological treatments from 1897 to 2022.

Tabes dorsalis in the 19 century. The golden age of progressive locomotor ataxia.

Tabes dorsalis, a late neurological complication of syphilis, is nowadays almost extinct. The path to understanding this disease and its pathophysiology was long and winding, spanning multiple centuries. The 19 century was a crucial period for understanding it.

The medical itineraries of Blaise Cendrars. Neuropsychiatry marks life and literature.

Neuropsychiatry had a profound impact on the life and work of one of the most influential French writers of the 20th century, Frédéric Sauser, better known by his pen name Blaise Cendrars (1887-1961). Cendrars, whose right writing hand was amputated after a battlefield wound in 1915, described with acuity his stump pain and phantom limb syndrome. He became a left-handed writer.

French neuropsychiatry in the Great War: between moral support and electricity.

In World War I, an unprecedented number of soldiers were suffering from nervous disturbances, known as war psychoneuroses. Mechanisms of commotion, emotion, and suggestion were defined in order to explain these disturbances. In France, emphasis was placed on the mechanism of suggestion, based on pithiatism, introduced by Joseph Babinski (1857-1932) before the war to highlight the concept of suggestion and its hazy border with simulation.

Sigmund Freud's evolution from neurology to psychiatry: evidence from his La Salpêtrière library.

Objective: To analyze the parallel between the scientific evolution of Sigmund Freud and his French library during and after his stay with Jean-Martin Charcot at La Salpêtrière in 1885-1886.

Methods: Systematic review of all identified volumes of Freud's personal library, and comparison with his life data and publications.

Results: The largest part of Freud's 125 French medical books up to 1900 (of 3,725 books overall) are devoted to hysteria and hypnotism, published mainly between 1885 and 1895.

Alfred Vulpian and Jean-Martin Charcot in each other's shadow? From Castor and Pollux at La Salpêtrière to neurology forever.

While Alfred Vulpian (1826-1887) is not completely forgotten, he cannot match the uninterrupted celebrity which Jean-Martin Charcot (1825-1893) still enjoys today. After becoming interne (residents) at the same institute in 1848, both were involved in shaping the cradle of what would become modern neurology. Both started work as chiefs at a La Salpêtrière service on January 1, 1862, making common rounds and studies, with several common publications.

Hysteria after Charcot: back to the future.

The studies on hysteria and hypnotism probably constitute the most important long-term work of Jean-Martin Charcot and his school, starting around 1870 until Charcot's death in 1893. Désiré Bourneville, Charcot's sixth interne at La Salpêtrière, was probably instrumental in stimulating his mentor's interest in hysteria, while Charles Richet's 1875 article on somnambulism was the trigger for Charcot to introduce hypnotism into the management of hysterics. Albert Pitres, Paul Richer, Georges Gilles de la Tourette, Paul Sollier, Joseph Babinski, Sigmund Freud and Pierre Janet became the most famous of Charcot's collaborators on hysteria, either as 'guardians of the temple' (Richer, Gilles de la Tourette, who defended their mentor's concepts against Hippolyte Bernheim and the Nancy school in the dispute during the 1880-1890s), or in renewing the field in psychology (Janet and Freud, in the 1890s) or clinical neurology (Babinski in the 1900s).

'The adventure': Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz's extraordinary stroke diary.

The famous Swiss writer Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz suffered a stroke at 65 years, which he called 'the adventure' or 'the accident'. He developed language disturbances suggesting crossed aphasia in a right hander with left hemiparesis. This uncommon pattern allowed him to continue to write his diary and to report his disturbances, with a unique depth and precision, especially for cognitive-emotional changes.

The last myth of Giorgio De Chirico: neurological art.

Giorgio de Chirico is one of the most admired and at the same time most discredited painters of the 20th century. As the 'inventor' of metaphysical painting, he has been considered as a precursor of Surrealism, while his later works have been harshly criticized as representative of the painter's decay. The mystery and dream-like atmosphere irradiating from his works has led to speculations that de Chirico may have taken his inspiration from migraine attacks or complex partial seizures.

The economics of treating stroke as an acute brain attack.

Currently, treatments for ischemic stroke focus on restoring or improving perfusion to the ischemic area using thrombolytics. The increased hospitalization costs related to thrombolysis are offset by a decrease in rehabilitation costs, for a net cost savings to the healthcare system. However, early treatment is essential.