- Jules Cotard
Jules Cotard (
June 1 ,1840 -August 19 ,1889 ) was a Frenchneurologist who is best known for first describing theCotard delusion , a patient'sdelusion al belief that they are dead, do not exist or do not have bodily organs.He studied
medicine inParis and later went on to work as an intern atHospice de la Salpêtrière , where he worked for, among others,Jean-Martin Charcot . He became particularly interested incerebrovascular accident s (commonly known as 'strokes') and their consequences and undertook autopsies to better understand how these affected the brain. In 1869 Cotard left Salpêtrière and at the outbreak of theFranco-Prussian War and joined an infantry regiment as a regimental surgeon. Cotard moved to the town ofVanves in 1874 where he remained for the last 15 years of his life. He made particular contributions to the understanding ofdiabetes anddelusion s. In August 1889, Cotard's daughter contracteddiphtheria and he reportedly refused to leave her bedside for 15 days until she recovered. He eventually contracted the illness himself and died on August 19.Jules Cotard served as the real life model for the character of Dr. Cottard in the
Marcel Proust novelIn Search of Lost Time .External links and references
* [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=7648846 Berrios GE, Luque R (1995)] Cotard's Delusion or Syndrome?: A Conceptual History. "Comprehensive Psychiatry", 36(3), 218-23.
* [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12011289&dopt=Abstract Pearn, J. & Gardner-Thorpe, C. (2002)] Jules Cotard (1840-1889) His life and the unique syndrome which bears his name. "Neurology", 58, 1400-1403.
* [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12717539&dopt=Abstract Pearn, J. & Gardner-Thorpe, C. (2003)] A biographical note on Marcel Proust's Professor Cottard. "J Med Biogr", 11 (2), 103-6.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.