Korbinian Brodmann
Encyclopedia
Korbinian Brodmann was a German
neurologist
who became famous for his definition of the cerebral cortex
into 52 distinct regions from their cytoarchitectonic (histological) characteristics.
, and studied medicine
in Munich
, Würzburg
, Berlin
and Freiburg
, where he received his medical diploma in 1895. Subsequently he studied at the Medical School in the University of Lausanne
in Switzerland
, and then worked in the University Clinic in Munich. He got a doctor of medicine
degree from the University of Leipzig
in 1898, with a thesis on chronic ependymal sclerosis
. He worked also in the Psychiatric Clinic in the University of Jena, with Ludwig Binswanger
, and in the Municipal Mental Asylum in Frankfurt
, from 1900 to 1901. There, he met Alois Alzheimer
, who was influential in his decision to pursue neuroscientific basic research.
Following this, Brodmann started to work in 1901 with Cécile
and Oskar Vogt
at the private institute "Neurobiologische Zentralstation" in Berlin, and in 1902 in the Neurobiological Laboratory of the University of Berlin. In 1915 he joined the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für Hirnforschung (Institute for Brain Research).
In 1909 he published his original research on cortical cytoarchitectonics in "Vergleichende Lokalisationslehre der Großhirnrinde in ihren Prinzipien dargestellt auf Grund des Zellenbaues" (Comparative Localization Studies in the Brain Cortex, its Fundamentals Represented on the Basis of its Cellular Architecture).
In the following years he worked at the University of Tübingen, where he was habilitated and made a full professor in 1913, and from 1910 to 1916 as physician and chairman of the Anatomical Laboratory at the University Psychiatric Clinic. In 1916 he moved to Halle
in order to work in the Nietleben Municipal Hospital. Finally, in 1918, he accepted an invitation from the University of Munich to direct the group of histology at Psychiatric Research Center.
He died in Munich rather suddenly of a generalized septic infection following pneumonia
, at just under 50 years of age on August 22, 1918.
The areas he depicted on the brain are now usually referred to as Brodmann area
s. Some of these areas were later associated to nervous functions, such as areas 41 and 42 in the temporal lobe
(related to hearing
), areas 1, 2 and 3 in the postcentral gyrus of the parietal lobe
(the somatosensory
region), and the areas 17 and 18
in the occipital lobe
(the primary visual
areas).
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
neurologist
Neurologist
A neurologist is a physician who specializes in neurology, and is trained to investigate, or diagnose and treat neurological disorders.Neurology is the medical specialty related to the human nervous system. The nervous system encompasses the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves. A specialist...
who became famous for his definition of the cerebral cortex
Cerebral cortex
The cerebral cortex is a sheet of neural tissue that is outermost to the cerebrum of the mammalian brain. It plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language, and consciousness. It is constituted of up to six horizontal layers, each of which has a different...
into 52 distinct regions from their cytoarchitectonic (histological) characteristics.
Life
Brodmann was born in Liggersdorf, Province of HohenzollernProvince of Hohenzollern
Hohenzollern was a de facto province of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was created in 1850 by joining the principalities of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and Hohenzollern-Hechingen after both formerly independently ruling Catholic princely lines of the House of Hohenzollern had handed over their...
, and studied 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....
in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Würzburg
Würzburg
Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. Located at the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is Franconian....
, Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and Freiburg
Freiburg
Freiburg im Breisgau is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. In the extreme south-west of the country, it straddles the Dreisam river, at the foot of the Schlossberg. Historically, the city has acted as the hub of the Breisgau region on the western edge of the Black Forest in the Upper Rhine Plain...
, where he received his medical diploma in 1895. Subsequently he studied at the Medical School in the University of Lausanne
University of Lausanne
The University of Lausanne in Lausanne, Switzerland was founded in 1537 as a school of theology, before being made a university in 1890. Today about 12,000 students and 2200 researchers study and work at the university...
in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, and then worked in the University Clinic in Munich. He got a doctor of medicine
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
degree from the University of Leipzig
University of Leipzig
The University of Leipzig , located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in the world and the second-oldest university in Germany...
in 1898, with a thesis on chronic ependymal sclerosis
Sclerosis
Sclerosis or sclerotization is a hardening of tissue and other anatomical features; it may refer to:* in medicine, Sclerosis...
. He worked also in the Psychiatric Clinic in the University of Jena, with Ludwig Binswanger
Ludwig Binswanger
Ludwig Binswanger was a Swiss psychiatrist and pioneer in the field of existential psychology...
, and in the Municipal Mental Asylum in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, from 1900 to 1901. There, he met Alois Alzheimer
Alois Alzheimer
Aloysius "Alois" Alzheimer, was a German psychiatrist and neuropathologist and a colleague of Emil Kraepelin. Alzheimer is credited with identifying the first published case of "presenile dementia", which Kraepelin would later identify as Alzheimer's disease....
, who was influential in his decision to pursue neuroscientific basic research.
Following this, Brodmann started to work in 1901 with Cécile
Cécile Vogt-Mugnier
Cecile Vogt-Mugnier was a French neurologist from Haute-Savoie.-Family:She obtained her medical doctorate in Paris and was the student of Pierre Marie. There she met her future husband, Oskar Vogt, when he came to Paris to work with Joseph Jules Déjérine...
and Oskar Vogt
Oskar Vogt
Oskar Vogt was a German physician and neurologist. He was born in Husum - Schleswig-Holstein...
at the private institute "Neurobiologische Zentralstation" in Berlin, and in 1902 in the Neurobiological Laboratory of the University of Berlin. In 1915 he joined the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für Hirnforschung (Institute for Brain Research).
In 1909 he published his original research on cortical cytoarchitectonics in "Vergleichende Lokalisationslehre der Großhirnrinde in ihren Prinzipien dargestellt auf Grund des Zellenbaues" (Comparative Localization Studies in the Brain Cortex, its Fundamentals Represented on the Basis of its Cellular Architecture).
In the following years he worked at the University of Tübingen, where he was habilitated and made a full professor in 1913, and from 1910 to 1916 as physician and chairman of the Anatomical Laboratory at the University Psychiatric Clinic. In 1916 he moved to Halle
Halle, Saxony-Anhalt
Halle is the largest city in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is also called Halle an der Saale in order to distinguish it from the town of Halle in North Rhine-Westphalia...
in order to work in the Nietleben Municipal Hospital. Finally, in 1918, he accepted an invitation from the University of Munich to direct the group of histology at Psychiatric Research Center.
He died in Munich rather suddenly of a generalized septic infection following pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
, at just under 50 years of age on August 22, 1918.
Brodmann areas
Brodmann area
A Brodmann area is a region of the cerebral cortex defined based on its cytoarchitectonics, or structure and organization of cells.-History:...
s. Some of these areas were later associated to nervous functions, such as areas 41 and 42 in the temporal lobe
Temporal lobe
The temporal lobe is a region of the cerebral cortex that is located beneath the Sylvian fissure on both cerebral hemispheres of the mammalian brain....
(related to hearing
Hearing (sense)
Hearing is the ability to perceive sound by detecting vibrations through an organ such as the ear. It is one of the traditional five senses...
), areas 1, 2 and 3 in the postcentral gyrus of the parietal lobe
Parietal lobe
The parietal lobe is a part of the Brain positioned above the occipital lobe and behind the frontal lobe.The parietal lobe integrates sensory information from different modalities, particularly determining spatial sense and navigation. For example, it comprises somatosensory cortex and the...
(the somatosensory
Somatosensory system
The somatosensory system is a diverse sensory system composed of the receptors and processing centres to produce the sensory modalities such as touch, temperature, proprioception , and nociception . The sensory receptors cover the skin and epithelia, skeletal muscles, bones and joints, internal...
region), and the areas 17 and 18
Brodmann area 18
-Human:Brodmann area 18, or BA18, is part of the occipital cortex in the human brain. It accounts for the bulk of the volume of the occipital lobe....
in the occipital lobe
Occipital lobe
The occipital lobe is the visual processing center of the mammalian brain containing most of the anatomical region of the visual cortex. The primary visual cortex is Brodmann area 17, commonly called V1...
(the primary visual
Visual system
The visual system is the part of the central nervous system which enables organisms to process visual detail, as well as enabling several non-image forming photoresponse functions. It interprets information from visible light to build a representation of the surrounding world...
areas).
Books
- Korbinian Brodmann, Vergleichende Lokalisationslehre der Grosshirnrinde in ihren Prinzipien dargestellt auf Grund des Zellenbaues, Johann Ambrosius Barth Verlag, LeipzigLeipzigLeipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
, 1909. - Korbinian Brodmann, Brodmann's 'Localisation in the Cerebral Cortex, Smith-Gordon, London, UK, 1909/1994. ISBN 1-85463-028-8. English translation by Laurence Garey of the German book.
External links
- Korbinian Brodmann (1868-1918) article by Professor Laurence Garey
- microscope for brain sections from the University of Tübingen (1911), attributed to Korbinian Brodmann's work (German language)
- Korbinian Brodmann WhoNamedIt