Bernhard von Gudden

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Johann Bernhard Aloys von Gudden (June 7, 1824 - June 13, 1886) was a German neuroanatomist and psychiatrist. He earned his doctorate from the University of Halle in 1848 and became an intern at the asylum in Siegburg. From 1851 to 1855 he was a psychiatrist in the mental asylum at Illenau in Baden. From 1855 to 1869 he was director of the Unterfränkische Landes-Irrenanstalt mental institution in Werneck. In 1869 he was appointed director of the Burghölzli Hospital, and also a professor of psychiatry at the University of Zürich. Later in his career he was professor of psychiatry at the University of Munich.

Gudden made many contributions in the field of neuroanatomy, especially his work of mapping and describing the paths, connections, origins/termini and neuroanatomical centers of the cranial and optic nerve networks. The commissural fibers of the optic tract are eponymously called the commissure of Gudden. He is also credited for developing a specialized microtome for sectioning the brain for pathological study. Among his well-known students and assistants are Emil Kraepelin (1856-1926), Franz Nissl (1860-1919), Auguste-Henri Forel (1848-1931), Sigbert Josef Maria Ganser (1853-1931) and Oskar Panizza (1853-1921).

As director of mental institutions, Gudden advocated a no-restraint policy, humane treatment of the mentally ill, communal social interaction amongst patients, and a well-trained medical staff. These were considered innovative, if not revolutionary ideas concerning mental health treatment in the mid-19th century. Gudden was a respected psychiatrist in Germany and was appointed personal physician to King Ludwig II of Bavaria. On June 13, 1886, Ludwig and Gudden were both found dead in the water near the shore of Lake Starnberg at 11:30 p.m. that night, allegedly drowned, possibly murdered. To this day the details of their deaths remain a mystery.

After Gudden's death, his works were collected and edited by his son-in-law, psychiatrist Hubert von Grashey (1839-1914), and published in 1889 under the title Bernhard von Gudden’s gesammelte und hinterlassene Abhandlungen.

Selected writings: