Leopold Auerbach (27 April 1828 – 30 September 1897) was a Jewish German

anatomist Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

and

neuropathologist Neuropathology is the study of disease of nervous system tissue, usually in the form of either small surgical biopsies or whole-body autopsies. Neuropathologists usually work in a department of anatomic pathology, but work closely with the cli ...

born in Breslau. He is best known for discovering the myenteric plexus aka

Auerbach's plexus The myenteric plexus (or Auerbach's plexus) provides motor innervation to both layers of the muscular layer of the gut, having both parasympathetic and sympathetic input (although present ganglion cell bodies belong to parasympathetic innervatio ...

, which helps control the GI tract.

Education and career

Auerbach studied medicine at the Universities of Breslau,

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and the

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

. He became a physician in 1849, obtained his habilitation in 1863. From 1872 he was an associate professor of neuropathology at the University of Breslau.

Discoveries

Auerbach was among the first physicians to diagnose the

nervous system In biology, the nervous system is the complex system, highly complex part of an animal that coordinates its behavior, actions and sense, sensory information by transmitting action potential, signals to and from different parts of its body. Th ...

using

histological Histology, also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology that studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissue (biology), tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at large ...

staining Staining is a technique used to enhance contrast in samples, generally at the Microscope, microscopic level. Stains and dyes are frequently used in histology (microscopic study of biological tissue (biology), tissues), in cytology (microscopic ...

methods. He published a number of papers on neuropathological problems and muscle-related disorders. He is credited with the discovery of ''Plexus myentericus Auerbachi'', or

, a layer of

ganglion A ganglion (: ganglia) is a group of neuron cell bodies in the peripheral nervous system. In the somatic nervous system, this includes dorsal root ganglia and trigeminal ganglia among a few others. In the autonomic nervous system, there are ...

cells that provide control of movements of the gastro-intestinal tract, also known as the "myenteric plexus". "Friedreich–Auerbach disease" is named after Auerbach and pathologist

Nikolaus Friedreich Nikolaus Friedreich (1 July 1825 in Würzburg – 6 July 1882 in Heidelberg) was a German pathologist and neurologist, and a third generation physician in the Friedreich family. His father was psychiatrist Johann Baptist Friedreich (1796–18 ...

(1825–1882). It is a rare disease characterized by hemi-

hypertrophy Hypertrophy is the increase in the volume of an organ or tissue due to the enlargement of its component cells. It is distinguished from hyperplasia, in which the cells remain approximately the same size but increase in number. Although hypertro ...

of the facial features,

tongue The tongue is a Muscle, muscular organ (anatomy), organ in the mouth of a typical tetrapod. It manipulates food for chewing and swallowing as part of the digestive system, digestive process, and is the primary organ of taste. The tongue's upper s ...

, and

tonsils The tonsils ( ) are a set of lymphoid organs facing into the aerodigestive tract, which is known as Waldeyer's tonsillar ring and consists of the adenoid tonsil (or pharyngeal tonsil), two tubal tonsils, two palatine tonsils, and the lingual ...

Family

Auerbach died in Breslau. His son

Felix Auerbach Felix Auerbach (12 November 1856 – 26 February 1933) was a German physicist. Life Auerbach was born in Breslau (today Wrocław) on 12 November 1856. His father, Leopold Auerbach, was a respected physician and professor of medicine at th ...

was a renowned physicist, while his son Friedrich Auerbach was a chemist. Friedrich’s daughter

Charlotte Auerbach Charlotte "Lotte" Auerbach FRS FRSE (14 May 1899 – 17 March 1994) was a German geneticist who contributed to founding the science of mutagenesis. She became well known after 1942 when she discovered, with A. J. Clark and J. M. Robson, tha ...

was a geneticist.

Bibliography

* ''Ueber Percussion der Muskeln''; in: Zeitschrift für rationelle Medizin, Leipzig and Heidelberg 1862. * ''Bau der Blut- und Lymph-Capillaren''; in: Centralblatt für die medicinischen Wissenschaften, Berlin, 1865. * ''Lymphgefässe des Darms''; in: irchowsArchiv für pathologische Anatomie und Physiologie und für klinische Medicin, Berlin, 1865. volume 33. * ''Wahre Muskelhypertrophie''; in: irchowsArchiv für pathologische Anatomie und Physiologie und für klinische Medicin, Berlin, 1871, volume 53.Leopold Auerbach – bibliography
at

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 ...

Sources

''Leopold Auerbach''
@

{{DEFAULTSORT:Auerbach, Leopold German anatomists German pathologists 1828 births 1897 deaths University of Breslau alumni Academic staff of the University of Breslau Auerbach family Physicians from Wrocław Neuropathologists

Education and career

Discoveries

Family

Bibliography

See also

Sources