Johann Bernhard Aloys von Gudden (7 June 1824 – 13 June 1886) was a German

neuroanatomist Neuroanatomy is the study of the structure and organization of the nervous system. In contrast to animals with radial symmetry, whose nervous system consists of a distributed network of cells, animals with bilateral symmetry have segregated, defin ...

and

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

born in

Kleve Kleve (; traditional ; ; ; ; ; Low Rhenish: ''Kleff'') is a town in the Lower Rhine region of northwestern Germany near the Netherlands, Dutch border and the River Rhine. From the 11th century onwards, Cleves was capital of a county and lat ...

Career

In 1848, von Gudden earned his doctorate from the

University of Halle Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (), also referred to as MLU, is a public research university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg. It is the largest and oldest university in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. MLU offers German and i ...

and became an intern at the asylum in

Siegburg Siegburg (; i.e. ''fort on the Sieg (river), Sieg river''; Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Sieburch'') is a city in the district of Rhein-Sieg-Kreis in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the banks of the rivers Sieg (river), Sieg ...

under Carl Wigand Maximilian Jacobi (1775–1858). From 1851 to 1855 he worked as a psychiatrist under Christian Friedrich Wilhelm Roller (1802–1878) in the mental asylum at Illenau in

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...

, then from 1855 to 1869, served as director of the mental institution (''Unterfränkische Landes-Irrenanstalt'') in Werneck. In 1869 he was appointed director of the

Burghölzli Burghölzli, named after the wooded hill in the district of Riesbach in southeastern Zürich where it is located, is the ''Psychiatrische Universitätsklinik Zürich'' ('Psychiatric University Hospital Zürich'), a psychiatric hospital in Switzerl ...

Hospital, as well as professor of psychiatry at the

University of Zürich The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...

. In 1872 he was appointed ''Obermedicinalrath'' and director of the Upper Bavarian Kreis-Irrenanstalt (district mental asylum), located in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. Shortly afterwards, he became a professor of psychiatry at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

. Gudden made many contributions in the field of

neuroanatomy Neuroanatomy is the study of the structure and organization of the nervous system. In contrast to animals with radial symmetry, whose nervous system consists of a distributed network of cells, animals with bilateral symmetry have segregated, defi ...

, especially in his work of mapping and describing the paths, connections, origins/termini and neuroanatomical centers of

cranial Standard anatomical terms of location are used to describe unambiguously the anatomy of humans and other animals. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek language, Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. Thi ...

and

optic nerve In neuroanatomy, the optic nerve, also known as the second cranial nerve, cranial nerve II, or simply CN II, is a paired cranial nerve that transmits visual system, visual information from the retina to the brain. In humans, the optic nerve i ...

networks. The commissural fibers of the

optic tract In neuroanatomy, the optic tract () is a part of the visual system in the brain. It is a continuation of the optic nerve that relays information from the optic chiasm to the ipsilateral lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), pretectal nuclei, and su ...

are called the commissure of Gudden in his honor, and he is credited for developing a specialized

microtome A microtome (from the Greek ''mikros'', meaning "small", and ''temnein'', meaning "to cut") is a cutting tool used to produce extremely thin slices of material known as ''sections'', with the process being termed microsectioning. Important in sc ...

for sectioning the

brain The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...

for pathological study. Among his well-known students and assistants are

Emil Kraepelin Emil Wilhelm Georg Magnus Kraepelin (; ; 15 February 1856 – 7 October 1926) was a German psychiatrist. H. J. Eysenck's Encyclopedia of Psychology identifies him as the founder of modern scientific psychiatry, psychopharmacology and psychiatric ...

(1856–1926), Franz Nissl (1860–1919),

Auguste-Henri Forel Auguste-Henri Forel (; 1 September 1848 – 27 July 1931) was a Swiss myrmecologist, neuroanatomist, psychiatrist and former eugenicist, notable for his investigations into the structure of the human brain and that of ants. He is considered a co ...

(1848–1931),

Sigbert Josef Maria Ganser Sigbert Josef Maria Ganser (24 January 1853, Rhaunen, Rhine Province – 4 January 1931, Dresden, Saxony) was a German psychiatrist born in Rhaunen. He earned his medical doctorate in 1876 from the University of Munich. Afterwards he worke ...

(1853–1931) and Oskar Panizza (1853–1921). As director of mental institutions, Gudden advocated a no-restraint policy, humane treatment of the mentally ill, communal social interaction amongst patients, and a well-trained medical staff. These were considered innovative, if not revolutionary ideas concerning mental health treatment in the mid-19th century. Gudden was a respected psychiatrist in Germany and was appointed personal physician to King

Ludwig II of Bavaria Ludwig II (Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm; 25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886), also called the Swan King or the Fairy Tale King (), was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke ...

Death and legacy

On June 13, 1886, Ludwig and Gudden were both found dead in the water near the shore of

Lake Starnberg Lake Starnberg, or ''Starnberger See'' ) — called Lake Würm or ''Würmsee'' until 1962 — is Germany's second-largest body of fresh water, having great depth, and fifth-largest lake by area. It and its surroundings lie in three different Bava ...

at 11:30 p.m., allegedly drowned, possibly murdered. To this day the details of their deaths remain a mystery. After Gudden's death, his works were collected and edited by his son-in-law,

Hubert von Grashey (1839–1914), being published in 1889 with the title "''Bernhard von Gudden’s gesammelte und hinterlassene Abhandlungen''".

Selected writings

* ''Beiträge zur Lehre von den Scabies'' (second edition in 1863) - Contributions to the theory of

scabies Scabies (; also sometimes known as the seven-year itch) is a contagious human skin infestation by the tiny (0.2–0.45 mm) mite ''Sarcoptes scabiei'', variety ''hominis''. The word is from . The most common symptoms are severe itchiness a ...

* ''Experimentaluntersuchungen über das peripherische und centrale Nervensystem''. Archiv für Psychiatrie und Nervenkrankheiten, Berlin, 1870; 2: 693–723. - Experimental studies of the

peripheral A peripheral device, or simply peripheral, is an auxiliary hardware device that a computer uses to transfer information externally. A peripheral is a hardware component that is accessible to and controlled by a computer but is not a core compo ...

and

central nervous system The central nervous system (CNS) is the part of the nervous system consisting primarily of the brain, spinal cord and retina. The CNS is so named because the brain integrates the received information and coordinates and influences the activity o ...

. * ''Ueber die Kreuzung der Fasern in Chiasma nervorum optici''. in Albrecht von Graefe's Archiv für Ophthalmologie, Berlin, 1874, 2 Abth., 20: 249–268; in Albrecht von Graefe's Archiv für Ophthalmologie, Berlin, 1879, 1 Abth., 25, 1-56. * ''Experimentelle Untersuchungen über das Schädelwachstum'' (1874) - Experimental studies on the growth of the skull.

Associated eponyms

* "Gudden's inferior commissure" ( commissure of Gudden): Commissural fibers of the

, situated above and behind the optic chiasm. * "Gudden's tract": The transverse peduncular tract. * "Gudden-Wanner sign": Shortening of

bone conduction Bone conduction is the conduction of sound to the inner ear primarily through the bones of the skull, allowing the hearer to perceive audio content even if the ear canal is blocked. Bone conduction transmission occurs constantly as sound waves vi ...

time of a

tuning fork A tuning fork is an acoustic resonator in the form of a two-pronged fork with the prongs ( ''tines'') formed from a U-shaped bar of elastic metal (usually steel). It resonates at a specific constant pitch when set vibrating by striking it ag ...

over bony cranial scars.Eminent Neuroscientists Their Lives and Works
by Kalyan B Bhattacharyya Named in conjunction with otologist Friedrich Wanner (1870-1944). * " Mammillo-tegmental bundle of Gudden": Also known as the fasciculus mammillo-tegmentalis. * The dorsal and ventral tegmental nuclei of the pontine tegmentum, first described by von Gudden in the rabbit, are sometimes referred to as the "dorsal/ventral nuclei of Gudden".

References

Johann Bernhard Aloys von Gudden, 1824–1886; Images in Psychiatry / American Journal of Psychiatry
(biography)

@

Who Named It ''Whonamedit?'' is an online English-language dictionary of medical eponyms and the people associated with their identification. Though it is a dictionary, many eponyms and persons are presented in extensive articles with comprehensive bibliograp ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gudden, Bernhard Von 1824 births 1886 deaths People from Kleve People associated with the University of Zurich Academic staff of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich German psychiatrists University of Halle alumni History of psychiatry Burials at the Ostfriedhof (Munich)