Constantin von Monakow (1853-1930): a pioneer in interdisciplinary brain research and a humanist

Abstract

Constantin von Monakow (1853-1930), director of the Brain Anatomy Institute in Zurich, was a pioneer in the early history of interdisciplinary brain sciences. The elucidation of connectivity in sensory and motor pathways was richly illustrated in two landmark monographs: Pathologie du cerveau (1897) and La localisation de l'encephale et la dégradation fonctionelle par des lésions circonscrites du cortex cérébral (1914). His special merit was to conceptualize his accumulating results. As to his term 'diaschisis': (1) neurological lesion are rarely restricted to a histologically defined neural structure; (2) any brain focus is interconnected with remote structures - thus, dependent structures are deafferented from the lesioned territory (= 'diaschisis') -; (3) dependent structures, however, gradually regain some autonomy, as reflected in partial behavioral recovery. His term 'chronogenic localization' was used for the brain's fundamental organization in time-dependent network constellations. Monakow attracted many researchers, particularly from Japan. He was an engaged member of the International Brain Commission until its dissolution during World War I.