Hallmarks in 18th- and 19th-century epilepsy research.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to reveal the major views of the early scientific period (18th and 19th centuries) on epilepsy as both a disease and a symptom. The shaping of thought about illness and medicine as a science, which began in the Renaissance and progressed into the Enlightenment, intensified during the 18th and 19th centuries. During this period of increasingly methodical investigation, researchers undertook a thorough study of epilepsy. Renowned doctors of this period from the Dutch and German medical schools, the "golden era" of French medicine, and British medicine, including, of course, John Hughlings Jackson, all left their mark in this era of epilepsy research. Epidemiological studies using large patient data sets were conducted for the first time, as was systematic research on the pathophysiological, pathological, neurological, and psychiatric aspects of the disease.