Jules Bernard Luys (17 August 1828 – 21 August 1897) was a French

neurologist Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous system, which comprises the brain, the ...

who made important contributions to the fields 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 ...

and

neuropsychiatry Neuropsychiatry is a branch of medicine that deals with psychiatry as it relates to neurology, in an effort to understand and attribute behavior to the interaction of neurobiology and social psychology factors. Within neuropsychiatry, the mind i ...

. Born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

on 17 August 1828, Luys became a doctor of medicine in 1857 and conducted extensive research on the anatomy, pathology and functions of the central nervous system. In 1865 he published a treatise entitled ''Studies on the Structure, Functions and Diseases of the Cerebro-spinal System'', this book was accompanied by a hand-drawn three-dimensional atlas of 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 ...

. It was within this book that Luys provided the first description of the structure that is today called the subthalamic nucleus. Luys termed this nucleus the ''bandelette accessoire des olives supérieures'' (accessory band of the superior olives) and concluded that it was a centre for the dispersion of

cerebellar The cerebellum (: cerebella or cerebellums; Latin for 'little brain') is a major feature of the hindbrain of all vertebrates. Although usually smaller than the cerebrum, in some animals such as the mormyrid fishes it may be as large as it or e ...

influence upon the

striatum The striatum (: striata) or corpus striatum is a cluster of interconnected nuclei that make up the largest structure of the subcortical basal ganglia. The striatum is a critical component of the motor and reward systems; receives glutamat ...

. Luys also traced the projection from the subthalamic nucleus to the

globus pallidus The globus pallidus (GP), also known as paleostriatum or dorsal pallidum, is a major component of the Cerebral cortex, subcortical basal ganglia in the brain. It consists of two adjacent segments, one external (or lateral), known in rodents simpl ...

and the projection to the subthalamic nucleus from the

cerebral cortex The cerebral cortex, also known as the cerebral mantle, is the outer layer of neural tissue of the cerebrum of the brain in humans and other mammals. It is the largest site of Neuron, neural integration in the central nervous system, and plays ...

. Today these pathways and structures are thought to be central to the

pathophysiology Pathophysiology (or physiopathology) is a branch of study, at the intersection of pathology and physiology, concerning disordered physiological processes that cause, result from, or are otherwise associated with a disease or injury. Pathology is ...

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

, the subthalamic nucleus being one of the major targets for

deep brain stimulation Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a type of neurostimulation therapy in which an implantable pulse generator is stereotactic surgery, surgically implanted subcutaneous tissue, below the skin of the chest and connected by Lead (electronics), leads ...

. In recognition of Luys discovery

Auguste 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 c ...

(1848–1931) gave the subthalamic nucleus the name ''corpus Luysii'' (Luys' body), a name still sometimes used today. In 1873, Luys published the first photographic atlas on the brain and nervous system: ''Iconographie Photographique des Centres Nerveux''. The atlas contained seventy albumen prints of frontal,

sagittal The sagittal plane (; also known as the longitudinal plane) is an anatomical plane that divides the body into right and left sections. It is perpendicular to the transverse plane, transverse and coronal plane, coronal planes. The plane may be in ...

, and horizontal sections of the brain. Some of them were enlarged with a microscope, but the majority represented gross neuroanatomy. Despite the popularity of

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

as a new visualization tool, the publication of the ''Iconographie'' did not lead to a proliferation of neuroanatomical photographic atlases in the subsequent decades. However,

Edward Flatau Edward Flatau (27 December 1868 – 7 June 1932) was a Polish neurologist and psychiatrist. He was a co-founder of the modern Polish neurology, an authority on the physiology and pathology of meningitis, co-founder of medical journals ''Neurolo ...

published such an atlas in 1894. In collaboration with his friend Benjamin Ball, he founded in 1881 the journal ''L'Encéphale''.

References

* Luys, Jules Bernard. ''Recherches sur le système cérébro-spinal, sa structure, ses fonctions et ses maladies.'' Paris: Baillière, 1865. * Luys, J., "The Latest Discoveries in Hypnotism: I", ''Fortnightly Review'', Vol.47, No.282, (June 1890), pp. 896–921; "The Latest Discoveries in Hypnotism: II", No.284, (August 1890), pp. 168–183. (reprinted a

an

) * Parent, André (2002). ''Jules Bernard Luys: A Singular Figure of 19th Century Neurology.'' The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences 29(3): 282–288

. * De Rijcke, Sarah (2008). ''Light Tries the Expert Eye: Photography and Objectivity in Nineteenth Century Macroscopic Neuroanatomy''. Journal of the History of the Neurosciences 17(3): 349–366. French neuroscientists 19th-century French physicians 1828 births 1897 deaths {{France-med-bio-stub