Open AccessLudwig Merzbacher (1875–1942): The man behind the disease
Author(s) -
Peiffer Jüirgen,
Gehrmann Jochen
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
brain pathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.986
H-Index - 132
eISSN - 1750-3639
pISSN - 1015-6305
DOI - 10.1111/j.1750-3639.1995.tb00608.x
Subject(s) - neuropathology , neuroscience , microglia , psychoanalysis , pathology , medicine , disease , psychology , immunology , inflammation
Ludwig Merzbacher (1875–1942) is widely known for his seminal work on the pathology of the dysmyelinating CNS disease named for the clinician Friedrich Pelizaeus and himself. Yet his training, his scientific achievements and his list of publications suggest a scientist with broad interests in neuropathology, neuroscience, neurology and psychiatry. Among several studies in experimental and clinical neuropathology, Merzbacher's work on scavenger cells is the most outstanding. While working in Alois Alzheimer's laboratory in Munich in 1906/1907, Ludwig Merzbacher analyzed in great detail the reaction patterns of these cells, which are nowadays known as reactive microglia, and already attempted to elucidate their function in brain pathology.