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Dieter Schmidt, MD

Arch Neurol. 2004;61:140-144.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

INTRODUCTION

In the second half of the 19th century, new scientific concepts of the etiology and nature of epilepsy emerged that challenged metaphysical views on epilepsy held since antiquity.¹ In 1910, Gottfried Benn (1886-1956), who would become a well-known German poet, was a medical student at the famous Charité Hospital of Friedrich Wilhelm University (Berlin, Germany). He offered a contemporary perspective on the dramatic evolution of epilepsy theory in his brief report, "A Contribution to the History of Psychiatry."² A year later, Benn's study on "The Etiology of Pubertal Epilepsy"³ received the gold medal from the medical faculty of the university. Both publications are briefly reviewed here. The purpose of this article is to provide a brief glimpse of European ideas on epilepsy at the beginning of the 20th century as seen through the eyes of Gottfried Benn, a German poet-physician who became particularly interested in pubertal epilepsy. . . . [Full Text of this Article]

THE EMERGING SCIENCE OF EPILEPSY

GOTTFRIED BENN, A GERMAN POET-PHYSICIAN

EUROPEAN EPILEPSY: THEORIES AT THE TURN OF THE 19TH CENTURY

The Reflex Theory of Epilepsy (Kußmaul, Brown-Séquard)

Emerging Nosological Concepts (Herpin, Charcot, and Gowers)

The Neuronal Theory of Epilepsy (Hughlings Jackson)

PUBERTAL EPILEPSY: A PERSPECTIVE FROM 1911

From the Epilepsy Research Group, Berlin, Germany.