Moritz Benedikt
Moritz Benedikt (1835-1920) was an Austro-Hungarian neurologist
Benedikt was one of the founders of criminal anthropology he believed that morality was a sense organ whose neurophysiological substrate could be found in a specific part of the human cortex. He hypothesised that the moral centre was located in the occipital area of the brain when others believed higher mental processes including moral feelings and ethical thoughts to be associated with the frontal parts of the brain.
Benedikt coined the term Darsonvalisation in 1899 to designate all therapeutic or experimental applications of pulsed high frequency (110–400 kHz) high voltage (10–20 kV) electrotherapy after the inventor Jaques-Arsène d’ Arsonval (1851-1940).
He also had a considerable interest in dowsing and radiesthesia writing Leitfaden der Rutenlehre (Wünschelrute) (Guideline to use of Divining Rods) on the subject
Biography
- Born July 4, 1835, in Eisenstadt, Sopron County (Hungary)
- Physician with the Austrian army during the Second Italian War of Independence (1859) and the Austro-Prussian War.
- Died April 14, 1920, in Vienna
Medical Eponyms
Benedikt syndrome (1889)
Posterior circulation stroke that affects the midbrain (paramedian midbrain syndrome). The midbrain stroke syndrome involves the fascicles of the oculomotor nerve and the red nucleus.
Symptoms of Benedikt syndrome include:
- Ipsilateral third nerve palsy, which can manifest as ptosis, abduction of the eye, diplopia, miosis, mydriasis, and loss of accommodation reflex.
- Contralateral loss of proprioception and vibration sensations.
- Cerebellar ataxia, which can involve involuntary movements.
- Contralateral rhythmic tremor of the hand and foot, which increases with emotional excitement and voluntary movements, and is absent during sleep.
The syndrome is typically caused by a lesion in the tegmentum of the midbrain and cerebellum, often due to an ischaemic stroke involving branches of the posterior cerebral artery or paramedian penetrating branches of the basilar artery.135 Other potential causes include haemorrhage, tumours, or tuberculosis.
Major Publications
- Benedikt M. Elektrotherapie. 1868
- Benedikt M. Anatomische Studien an Verbrecher-Gehirnen für Anthropologen, Mediciner, Juristen und Psychologen. 1879
- Benedikt M. Anatomical studies upon brains of criminals; a contribution to anthropology, medicine, jurisprudence, and psychology. Translated from the German by E.P. Fowler. 1881
- Benedikt M. Zur Lehre von der Lokalisation der Gehirnfunktionen. Wien Klin 1883; 9: 101–159
- Benedikt M. Tremblement avec paralysie croisée du moteur oculaire commun. Bulletin médical (Paris) 1889; 3: 547-548.
- Benedikt M. Klinische betrachtungen über epilepsie. 1889
- Benedikt M. Hypnotismus und Suggestion : eine klinisch-psychologische Studie. 1894
- Benedikt M. Die Seelenkunde des Menschen als reine Erfahrungswissenschaft. 1895
- Benedikt M. Das biomechanische (neo-vitalistische) Denken in der Medizin und in der Biologie. 1903
- Benedikt M. Aus meinem leben, erinnerungen und erörterungen. 1906
- Benedikt M. Biomechanik und Biogenesis. 1912
- Benedikt M. Leitfaden der Rutenlehre (Wünschelrute). 1916 [Guideline to use of Divining Rods]
References
Biography
Eponymous terms
- Charcot J-M. Le syndrome de Benedikt. Médecine moderne. 1893: 194-195
- Wolff JK. The Classical Brain Stem Syndromes: Translations of the Original Papers with Notes on the Evolution of Clinical Neuroanatomy. Springfield, IL: Charles C Thomas, 1971.
- Liu GT, Crenner CW, Logigian EL, Charness ME, Samuels MA. Midbrain syndromes of Benedikt, Claude, and Nothnagel: setting the record straight. Neurology. 1992 Sep;42(9):1820-2.
- Verplaetse J. Moritz Benedikt’s (1835-1920) localization of morality in the occipital lobes: origin and background of a controversial hypothesis. Hist Psychiatry. 2004 Sep;15(59 Pt 3):305-28.
Eponym
the person behind the name
