Abstract
Jean-Martin Charcot's (1825-1893) concepts of hysteria evolved significantly over the last 20 years of his career. In the "Leçons du Mardi à la Salpêtrière" (Tuesday lessons), his original conception of a "dynamic lesion" coexists alongside a new psychological conception, sometimes in a rather contradictory way. According to the hand-written transcript of his Tuesday lesson on February 21st, 1888, Charcot stated: "Hysteria must be taken for what it is: psychic disease par excellence". However, in the printed edition of the Tuesday lessons, this emphasis on psychological factors was very much softened. The different wording and corresponding shift in meaning implicitly retrieved Charcot's former conception of a "dynamic lesion". Charcot himself had probably been made aware of the different wording by the editors, and had agreed upon it. After several years of studying this condition, Charcot was probably not confident enough in making too assertive conclusions on the psychological mechanisms underlying hysteria.
Highlights
Jean-Martin Charcot’s (1825–1893) concepts of hysteria evolved significantly over the last 20 years of his career
While working as Chief of Service at La Salpêtrière (1862–1893), he became increasingly interested in hysteria
Charcot had initially regarded hysteria as an organic disease, seeking a cerebral localization through autopsy and anatomopathological exam. His failure led him to consider hysteria as the consequence of a “dynamic lesion” (“lésion fonctionnelle” or “lésion dynamique”) of the nervous system; such explanation accounted for the lack of detectable morphological lesions in the brain of hysterical patients[2]
Summary
Jean-Martin Charcot’s (1825–1893) concepts of hysteria evolved significantly over the last 20 years of his career. RESUMEN Los conceptos de Jean-Martin Charcot (1825–1893) sobre la histeria evolucionaron significativamente durante los últimos 20 años de su carrera. Después de varios años estudiando esta afección, Charcot probablemente no estaba lo suficientemente seguro para sacar conclusiones demasiado asertivas sobre los mecanismos psicológicos subyacentes a la histeria.
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