Alois Alzheimer and Gaetano Perusini: Should Man Divide What Fate United?

Three points of interest lie in considering how Alzheimer, and more significantly Perusini, struggled to throw light on the cause of this devastating disease. There is a stimulating possibility that Perusini believed presenile forms of Alzheimer’s disease described the same disease as senile forms....

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Main Authors: G. Macchi, C. Brahe, M. Pomponi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 1997-01-01
Series:Behavioural Neurology
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/BEN-1997-10401
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author G. Macchi
C. Brahe
M. Pomponi
author_facet G. Macchi
C. Brahe
M. Pomponi
author_sort G. Macchi
collection DOAJ
description Three points of interest lie in considering how Alzheimer, and more significantly Perusini, struggled to throw light on the cause of this devastating disease. There is a stimulating possibility that Perusini believed presenile forms of Alzheimer’s disease described the same disease as senile forms. If so this would anticipate current opinion, and reveal Perusini to dissent from Kraepelin. In addition, Perusini may have understood the pathological relationship between neuritic plaques and vascular changes, once more foreseeing the modern view of Alzheimer’s disease. Finally, Perusini and Alzheimer disagreed with Jung's view concerning the relationship between neuropathology and clinical psychiatry. This point highlights the major change occurring at that time from classical neurology to the psychoanalytic era. In his last work (1911) Alzheimer quoted his Italian disciple many times, even speaking of ‘Perusini's cases’ (Perusinischen Fälle). This article is an attempt to change the eponym of Alzheimer’s disease into the Alzheimer-Perusini disease. This is a brief history of a master and his disciple, whose scientific lives were, by events, divided.
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spelling doaj-art-e5dbaf359f3d4b2fae634604a79cdb3e2025-08-20T02:21:03ZengWileyBehavioural Neurology0953-41801875-85841997-01-0110410510810.3233/BEN-1997-10401Alois Alzheimer and Gaetano Perusini: Should Man Divide What Fate United?G. Macchi0C. Brahe1M. Pomponi2Istituto Neurologia, Catholic University, School of Medicine “A. Gemelli”, Rome, ItalyIstituto Genetica Medica, Catholic University, School of Medicine “A. Gemelli”, Rome, ItalyIstituto Chimica e Chimica Clinica, Catholic University, School of Medicine “A. Gemelli”, Rome, ItalyThree points of interest lie in considering how Alzheimer, and more significantly Perusini, struggled to throw light on the cause of this devastating disease. There is a stimulating possibility that Perusini believed presenile forms of Alzheimer’s disease described the same disease as senile forms. If so this would anticipate current opinion, and reveal Perusini to dissent from Kraepelin. In addition, Perusini may have understood the pathological relationship between neuritic plaques and vascular changes, once more foreseeing the modern view of Alzheimer’s disease. Finally, Perusini and Alzheimer disagreed with Jung's view concerning the relationship between neuropathology and clinical psychiatry. This point highlights the major change occurring at that time from classical neurology to the psychoanalytic era. In his last work (1911) Alzheimer quoted his Italian disciple many times, even speaking of ‘Perusini's cases’ (Perusinischen Fälle). This article is an attempt to change the eponym of Alzheimer’s disease into the Alzheimer-Perusini disease. This is a brief history of a master and his disciple, whose scientific lives were, by events, divided.http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/BEN-1997-10401
spellingShingle G. Macchi
C. Brahe
M. Pomponi
Alois Alzheimer and Gaetano Perusini: Should Man Divide What Fate United?
Behavioural Neurology
title Alois Alzheimer and Gaetano Perusini: Should Man Divide What Fate United?
title_full Alois Alzheimer and Gaetano Perusini: Should Man Divide What Fate United?
title_fullStr Alois Alzheimer and Gaetano Perusini: Should Man Divide What Fate United?
title_full_unstemmed Alois Alzheimer and Gaetano Perusini: Should Man Divide What Fate United?
title_short Alois Alzheimer and Gaetano Perusini: Should Man Divide What Fate United?
title_sort alois alzheimer and gaetano perusini should man divide what fate united
url http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/BEN-1997-10401
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