Paul Emil Flechsig
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Paul Emil Flechsig (29 June 1847 in Zwickau – 22 July 1929 in Leipzig, Germany) was an eminent nineteenth-century German neuroanatomist, psychiatrist and neuropathologist.
Professor Flechsig had an interest in myelinogenesis — the development of the myelin sheaths for nerves.[1] The myelin acts as an insulator to allow the electrical impulses to travel through the nerves.[1]
Flechsig (1872) observed that the myelin sheath is not yet formed in newborn babies,[2] so he came to the unfounded conclusion that the newborn cannot feel pain.[3] So great was his reputation and influence that his views were accepted without question, even though empirical studies had not been carried out. Surgical operations were carried out on infants without pain medication.
Flechsig views are questioned
It was not until a century that medical science started to question his views. Talbert et al. (1976) measured the rise in cortisol and cortisone in circumcised infants and found an increase in "stress".[4]
External links
Paul Flechsig
, Wikipedia. Retrieved 7 January 2024.-
Paul-Flechsig-Institut – Zentrum für Neuropathologie und Hirnforschung
, University of Leipzig. Retrieved 7 January 2024. -
Paul Flechsig
, Who Named It. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
References
- ↑ a b
Myelinogenesis
, Wikipedia. Retrieved 7 January 2024. - ↑
Flechsig P. Developmental (Myelogenetic) Localisation of the Cerebral Cortex in the Human Subject. Lancet. 19 October 1901; : 1027-9. Retrieved 7 January 2204.
- ↑ Cope DK. Neonatal pain: The evolution of an idea.. The American Association of Anesthesiologists Newsletter. September 1998; Retrieved 6 January 2024.
- ↑ Talbert LM, Kraybill EN, Potter HN. Adrenal Cortical Response to Circumcision in the Neonate. Obstet Gynecol. 1976; 46(2): 208-10. PMID. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
