kwebtransPreview
Open in TheBrain

Charcot, JM

Name: Jean-Martin Charcot

Achievements: One of the founders of modern neurology.  Early pioneer of the medical use of hypnotism.

Born: November 29, 1825; in Paris, France

Died: August 16, 1893; Morvan, France (Aged  67)

Field & Discipline: Medicine; Neurology; Physician

Language: French

Father: Unknown

Mother: Unknown

Siblings: 3 brothers

Spouse: Augustine Victoire Durvis

Children: One son: Jean. One daughter: Jeanne

Education: Lycee Bonaparte, Paris; University of Paris Medical School

Major Work:

"Lectures on the Diseases of the Nervous System" (1872-83)

"Tuesday Lessons at the Salpetriere" (1888).

Life & Times:

In 1844, Charcot began his medical training and in 1848 was taken on as a trainee at the Salpetriere in Paris, an asylum for mentally-ill women.

He was studying pathological anatomy but he soon became intrigued by the difficult  problems of patients with neuropathology and the huge amount of case material at Salpetriere.

His doctoral thesis of 1852, however, was on the difference between chronic rheumatism and gout and he was the first to make that distinction.  His thesis stated that diagnosis should rest on detailed observation, that clinical observation should be backed by laboratory tests, and that numerous cases should be studied before a generalization is made.  Charcot saw diagnosis as a tool in the search for the cause and origin of symptoms.

Charcot qualified as a physician in 1853 and in 1856 he became a junior consultant at the Salpetriere.    He was made a professor at the University of Paris in 1860 and

two years later was appointed Chief of Medical Services at the Salpetriere.

Charcot set himself the job of examining every single patient. His aim was to identify each type of illness as a clinical entity with the aim of understanding its origins, cause and most appropriate treatment.

He had a unique way of making his diagnosis, which consisted mainly of observing the patient.   Each patient was summoned in turn to Charcot's room and he would look them in silence, sometimes asking an intern for clinical observations.  Many of his peers testified to his extraordinary ability to absorb impressions and clarify them later through more observation and comparison with other patients.

By 1867, Charcot had classified the patients into three broad categories, mentally disturbed and insane patients, patients who had not been able to cope with unfortunate lives or reduced circumstances, but were otherwise in good health, and patients who suffered from chronic physical illnesses which were thought to be incurable.

From 1870 on, Charcot's clinico-anatomical method was fully accepted and he was able to expand his research facilities.

Among other innovations he introduced a photographic studio, a workshop for making anatomical models, a museum of pathological anatomy, and a department for electrotherapy and electrodiagnosis.

He laid great emphasis on post-mortem examination and since most of the inmates at Salpetriere had been abandoned by their relatives he had plenty of case studies.

Vivisection of animals was common in France, encouraged by [inspired by] Descartes* view that animals had no souls.  Although he admired the work of scientists such as [a fan of] Bernard* and his friend [a fan of] Pasteur*, Charcot had a deep aversion of major experiments on living animals.

Through his own methods of investigation, he discovered and named the disease of multiple sclerosis and made the first full description of Parkinson's disease, showing how it differed from multiple sclerosis.

In his studies, he proved conclusively that the brain was an association of functionally different parts, an idea which had been pioneered by the German phrenologist [developed ideas of] Gall*.

Charcot was the first to locate the motor areas of the brain. His study of epilepsy anticipated the modern development of remedial neuro-surgery and he discovered the significance of the dilation of small arteries to the brain (miliary aneurysms) in cerebral haemorrhage.

Charcot encouraged collaborators in his investigations of the brain, especially those with psychological interests. One of these was Paul Broca, who had demonstrated that speech was controlled by a specific area of the brain.

Broca had been a pupil of [work related to] Lombroso*, the Italian physician who, like Charcot, was interested in the pyschological as well as the physical.

In 1877, the patients at Salpetriere were reorganised with the insane, the epileptics and the so-called hysterics, now generally known as neurotics, being separated into different departments.

Charcot took over the department where the hysterics were housed.  He had an open mind about treatment and was not afraid to try anything he thought might help, even if it was rejected by the medical establishment.

In 1878, he published a paper in which he described the use of the method pioneered by the Scottish physician [influenced by] Braid* for inducing a hypnotic state in patients. He first used the world 'hypnotism' in the same year and despite its dubious reputation hypnotism became a central plank of treatment at the Salpetriere.

Charcot's work was internationally acclaimed and, in 1881, neurology was recognised as a separate discipline for the first time, when the French government created a professorship of diseases of the nervous system for Charcot.

In the last decade of his life, Charcot did a great deal of work on hysteria, looking for an organic basis for the illness.    In 1882, he described the different levels of hypnosis and presented the phenomenon as a legitimate tool of scientific research. 

In 1885, [influenced] Freud* attended Charcot's lectures in which hypnotism was demonstrated, and was inspired to study the psychological origins of neurotic symptoms.

Extra Connections: He influenced [influenced] Breuer*

His work related to that of  [work related to] Rokitansky*

His work was used by [work used by] De Maupassant*

He approved of the rest cure treatment suggested by SW [approved of rest cure of] Mitchell*

Assessment: Charcot was the principal founder of the discipline of neurology and was renowned as a brilliant teacher and clinician.

Oneliner:  JM Charcot,  pioneer in neurology

Bibliography:

Attachments