Abstract
The year of 2021 marks 90 year since the death of the neuroscientist Constantin von Economo, whose research in various areas was extremely relevant for the field of neurology. He described lethargic epidemic encephalitis, published an atlas of the cytoarchitecture of the human cerebral cortex, and conducted multiple studies in neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, and clinical neurology. Von Economo's genius extended into other nonmedical fields such as aeronautics, and he had renowned artistic skills.
Highlights
Amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, neurological complications including acute encephalopathy resulting from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 recall the cases of encephalitis lethargica (EL) described in 1916 and 1917, which were initially related to the Spanish flu[1]
These cases described more than 100 years ago by Constantin von Economo aroused major research interest, on the etiopathogenic mechanisms of this illness, which remain enigmatic (Figure 1)[1]
(with Hippolyte Bernheim), Strasbourg (Albrecht von Bethe), and in Trieste (Carl Isidor Cori). He returned to Vienna with this experience in the field and worked as an assistant at the Psychiatry and Nervous Diseases Clinic at Vienna’s General Hospital from 1906, under the direction of Julius WagnerJauregg . 4,7-10 That same year von Economo was granted the title of Baron (“Freiherr”) and his name became Constantin Freiherr von Economo
Summary
BARON CONSTANTIN VON ECONOMO (1876-1931)Amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, neurological complications including acute encephalopathy resulting from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 recall the cases of encephalitis lethargica (EL) described in 1916 and 1917, which were initially related to the Spanish flu[1]. These cases described more than 100 years ago by Constantin von Economo aroused major research interest, on the etiopathogenic mechanisms of this illness, which remain enigmatic (Figure 1)[1]. The description of these cases has made von Economo famous, but his contributions to neurology were much broader, and led him to three nominations for the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine[1,2,3,4].
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