Liverij Osipovich Darkshevich was a Russian 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 was a native of Yaroslavl

Yaroslavl

Yaroslavl is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historical part of the city, a World Heritage Site, is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Kotorosl Rivers. It is one of the Golden Ring cities, a group of historic cities...

. His surname is sometimes spelled Darkschewitsch in medical literature.

From 1882 to 1887 he studied medicine at the University of Moscow, and afterwards worked and studied at the laboratory of Theodor Meynert

Theodor Meynert

Theodor Hermann Meynert was a German-Austrian neuropathologist and anatomist who was born in Dresden.In 1861 he earned his medical doctorate, and in 1875 became director of the psychiatric clinic associated with the University of Vienna. One of his better known students in Vienna was Sigmund...

 (1833-1892) in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

, the laboratory of Paul Flechsig

Paul Flechsig

Paul Emil Flechsig was a German neuroanatomist, psychiatrist and neuropathologist. He is mainly remembered today for his research of myelinogenesis.-Biography:...

 (1847-1929) in Leipzig

Leipzig

Leipzig 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...

, Carl Westphal

Carl Friedrich Otto Westphal

Carl Friedrich Otto Westphal was a German neurologist and psychiatrist from Berlin. He was the son of Otto Carl Friedrich Westphal and Karoline Friederike Heine and the father of Alexander Carl Otto Westphal...

's clinic in 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 at the Salpêtrière in the clinic of Jean-Martin Charcot

Jean-Martin Charcot

Jean-Martin Charcot was a French neurologist and professor of anatomical pathology. He is known as "the founder of modern neurology" and is "associated with at least 15 medical eponyms", including Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis...

 (1825-1893). During this time period he also collaborated with Joseph Jules 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...

 (1839-1917) and Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...

 (1856-1939) on a number of important medical papers.

From 1892 to 1917 Darkshevich was director of the department of neurology at the University of Kazan, where he founded a neurological clinic and laboratory. He was also the first editor-in-chief of the Kazan Medical Journal (Казанский медицинский журнал). In 1917 he became professor of neurological diseases at the University of Moscow.

He is remembered for his description of the nucleus of the posterior commissure

Posterior commissure

The posterior commissure is a rounded band of white fibers crossing the middle line on the dorsal aspect of the upper end of the cerebral aqueduct. It is important in the bilateral pupillary light reflex....

; also known as the "nucleus of Darkshevich", which is a cell group located in the central gray substance

Periaqueductal gray

Periaqueductal gray is the gray matter located around the cerebral aqueduct within the tegmentum of the midbrain. It plays a role in the descending modulation of pain and in defensive behaviour...

 of the upper end of the cerebral aqueduct

Cerebral aqueduct

The mesencephalic duct, also known as the aqueductus mesencephali, aqueduct of Sylvius or the cerebral aqueduct, contains cerebrospinal fluid , is within the mesencephalon and connects the third ventricle in the diencephalon to the fourth ventricle in the mesencephalon, which is between the pons...

, in front of the oculomotor nucleus

Oculomotor nucleus

The fibers of the oculomotor nerve arise from a nucleus in the midbrain, which lies in the gray substance of the floor of the cerebral aqueduct and extends in front of the aqueduct for a short distance into the floor of the third ventricle...

.