Jean Lhermitte
Encyclopedia
Jacques Jean Lhermitte was a French
neurologist
and neuropsychiatrist
.
He was born in Mont-Saint-Père
, Aisne
, son of Léon Augustin Lhermitte
, a French realist painter. Following his early education at Saint-Etienne
, he studied in Paris
and graduated in medicine in 1907. He specialised in neurology
and became Chef-de-clinique (resident) for nervous diseases in 1908, Chef de laboratoire in 1910, and professeur agrégé for psychiatry
1922. He later became Médecin des Hôpitaux at the "Hospice Paul Brousse", head of the foundation "Dejerine
", and clinical director at the Salpêtrière Hospital
.
During World War I
he studied spinal injuries and became interested in neuropsychiatry
. This led to publications on visual hallucinations of the self. A deeply religious man, he explored the common territory between theology
and medicine
, and this led to interesting studies on demoniacal possession and stigmatisation.
Lhermitte was a noted clinical neurologist, and a number of medically relevant eponym
s bear his name:
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
neurologist
Neurology
Neurology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the nervous system. Specifically, it deals with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of disease involving the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems, including their coverings, blood vessels, and all effector tissue,...
and neuropsychiatrist
Neuropsychiatry
Neuropsychiatry is the branch of medicine dealing with mental disorders attributable to diseases of the nervous system. It preceded the current disciplines of psychiatry and neurology, in as much as psychiatrists and neurologists had a common training....
.
He was born in Mont-Saint-Père
Mont-Saint-Père
Mont-Saint-Père is a commune in the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France.-References:*...
, Aisne
Aisne
Aisne is a department in the northern part of France named after the Aisne River.- History :Aisne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Île-de-France, Picardie, and Champagne.Most of the old...
, son of Léon Augustin Lhermitte
Léon Augustin Lhermitte
Léon Augustin Lhermitte was a French realist painter and etcher whose primary subject matter was of rural scenes depicting the peasant worker.He was born in Mont-Saint-Père...
, a French realist painter. Following his early education at Saint-Etienne
Saint-Étienne
Saint-Étienne is a city in eastern central France. It is located in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Rhône-Alpes region, along the trunk road that connects Toulouse with Lyon...
, he studied in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and graduated in medicine in 1907. He specialised in neurology
Neurology
Neurology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the nervous system. Specifically, it deals with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of disease involving the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems, including their coverings, blood vessels, and all effector tissue,...
and became Chef-de-clinique (resident) for nervous diseases in 1908, Chef de laboratoire in 1910, and professeur agrégé for psychiatry
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
1922. He later became Médecin des Hôpitaux at the "Hospice Paul Brousse", head of the foundation "Dejerine
Joseph Jules Dejerine
Joseph Jules Dejerine , was a French neurologist.Joseph Jules Dejerine was born to French parents in Geneva, Switzerland, where his father was a carriage proprietor. During the Franco-Prussian War Dejerine worked as a volunteer in a Geneva Hospital and in the spring of 1871 decided to pursue his...
", and clinical director at the Salpêtrière Hospital
Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital
The Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital is a teaching hospital located in Paris, France. Part of the Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, it is one of Europe's largest hospitals...
.
During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
he studied spinal injuries and became interested in neuropsychiatry
Neuropsychiatry
Neuropsychiatry is the branch of medicine dealing with mental disorders attributable to diseases of the nervous system. It preceded the current disciplines of psychiatry and neurology, in as much as psychiatrists and neurologists had a common training....
. This led to publications on visual hallucinations of the self. A deeply religious man, he explored the common territory between theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
and medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, and this led to interesting studies on demoniacal possession and stigmatisation.
Lhermitte was a noted clinical neurologist, and a number of medically relevant eponym
Eponym
An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...
s bear his name:
- Lhermitte's signLhermitte's signLhermitte's sign, sometimes called the Barber Chair phenomenon, is an electrical sensation that runs down the back and into the limbs. In many patients, it is elicited by bending the head forward...
: Flexion of the neck in patients with multiple sclerosisMultiple sclerosisMultiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
produces electric shock-like sensations that extend down the spineVertebral columnIn human anatomy, the vertebral column is a column usually consisting of 24 articulating vertebrae, and 9 fused vertebrae in the sacrum and the coccyx. It is situated in the dorsal aspect of the torso, separated by intervertebral discs...
and may shoot into the limbs. - Lhermitte's peduncular hallucinosis: Purely visual hallucinations recognized as unreal, abnormal phenomena (preserved insight).
- Lhermitte's syndrome: A rare syndromeSyndromeIn medicine and psychology, a syndrome is the association of several clinically recognizable features, signs , symptoms , phenomena or characteristics that often occur together, so that the presence of one or more features alerts the physician to the possible presence of the others...
of ocular palsy with nystagmus and paralysisParalysisParalysis is loss of muscle function for one or more muscles. Paralysis can be accompanied by a loss of feeling in the affected area if there is sensory damage as well as motor. A study conducted by the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, suggests that about 1 in 50 people have been diagnosed...
of adductionAdductionAdduction is a movement which brings a part of the anatomy closer to the middle sagittal plane of the body. It is opposed to abduction.-Upper limb:* of arm at shoulder ** Subscapularis** Teres major** Pectoralis major** Infraspinatus...
during attempted lateral deviation of the eyes. - Lhermitte-Cornil-Quesnel syndrome: A slowly progressive pyramidopallidalGlobus pallidusThe globus pallidus also known as paleostriatum, is a sub-cortical structure of the brain. Topographically, it is part of the telencephalon, but retains close functional ties with the subthalamus - both of which are part of the extrapyramidal motor system...
degeneration. - Lhermitte-Duclos syndrome: A rare pathologicPathologyPathology is the precise study and diagnosis of disease. The word pathology is from Ancient Greek , pathos, "feeling, suffering"; and , -logia, "the study of". Pathologization, to pathologize, refers to the process of defining a condition or behavior as pathological, e.g. pathological gambling....
entity with hypertrophy chiefly of the stratum granulosumStratum granulosumThe stratum granulosum is a thin layer of cells in the epidermis. Keratinocytes migrating from the underlying stratum spinosum become known as granular cells in this layer...
of the cerebellumCerebellumThe cerebellum is a region of the brain that plays an important role in motor control. It may also be involved in some cognitive functions such as attention and language, and in regulating fear and pleasure responses, but its movement-related functions are the most solidly established...
. - Lhermitte-Lévy syndrome: A syndrome of slowly progressing paralysis after a strokeStrokeA stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
. - Lhermitte-McAlpine syndrome: A combined pyramidal and extrapyramidal tract syndrome in middle-aged and elderly persons.
- Lhermitte-Trelles syndrome: A syndrome characterized by lymphoblastLymphoblastLymphoblasts are immature cells which typically differentiate to form mature lymphocytes. Normally lymphoblasts are found in the bone marrow, but in acute lymphoblastic leukemia , lymphoblasts proliferate uncontrollably and are found in large numbers in the peripheral blood.The size is between 10...
ic infiltration of the peripheral nervous systemPeripheral nervous systemThe peripheral nervous system consists of the nerves and ganglia outside of the brain and spinal cord. The main function of the PNS is to connect the central nervous system to the limbs and organs. Unlike the CNS, the PNS is not protected by the bone of spine and skull, or by the blood–brain...
, associated with paralysis and amyotrophyAmyotrophyAmyotrophy is progressive wasting of muscle tissues. Muscle pain is also a symptom. It can occur in middle age males with type 2 diabetes. It also occurs with Motor Neuron Disease.-See also:* Diabetic amyotrophy* Monomelic amyotrophy...
.