Ernst Julius Remak (26 May 1849,

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

– 24 May 1911,

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

) was a German

neurologist Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal c ...

who was the son of famed neurologist

Robert Remak Robert Remak (26 July 1815 – 29 August 1865) was a Jewish Polish-German embryologist, physiologist, and neurologist, born in Poznań, Posen, Prussia, who discovered that the origin of cells was by the Cell division, division of pre-existing cel ...

(1815-1865) and the father of the

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

(1888-1942). He received his education at the Universities of Breslau,

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg ...

, Strasbourg and

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

, and obtained the degree of

M.D. Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. ...

in 1870. At Heidelberg, he was a student of neurologist Wilhelm Heinrich Erb (1840-1921). Afterwards he took part in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71. After serving as assistant in the department for nervous diseases at the Charité Hospital,

from 1873 to 1875, he established himself as a

in the German capital, where he became

privat-docent ''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualific ...

in 1877, and

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

in 1893. With

Edward Flatau Edward Flatau (27 December 1868, Płock – 7 June 1932, Warsaw) was a Polish neurologist and psychiatrist. He was a co-founder of the modern Polish neurology, an authority on the physiology and pathology of meningitis, co-founder of medical jou ...

(1868-1932), he published an important work on

neuritis Neuritis () is inflammation of a nerve or the general inflammation of the peripheral nervous system. Inflammation, and frequently concomitant demyelination, cause impaired transmission of neural signals and leads to aberrant nerve function. Neuri ...

and

polyneuritis Peripheral neuropathy, often shortened to neuropathy, is a general term describing disease affecting the peripheral nerves, meaning nerves beyond the brain and spinal cord. Damage to peripheral nerves may impair sensation, movement, gland, or o ...

that was selected by

Carl Nothnagel Carl Wilhelm Hermann Nothnagel (28 September 1841 – 7 July 1905) was a German internist born in Alt-Lietzegöricke ( pl, Stare Łysogórki), near Bärwalde in der Neumark ( pl, Mieszkowice), Neumark, Brandenburg. Career The son of a pha ...

(1841-1905) to be part of his ''Handbuch der speziellen Pathologie und Therapie''. His name is associated with the eponymous "Remak reflex", which is

plantar Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...

flexion of the first three toes and sometimes the foot with extension of the knee, induced by stroking of the upper anterior surface of the

thigh In human anatomy, the thigh is the area between the hip ( pelvis) and the knee. Anatomically, it is part of the lower limb. The single bone in the thigh is called the femur. This bone is very thick and strong (due to the high proportion of ...

. This reflex takes place when the conducting paths in the

spinal cord The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular structure made up of nervous tissue, which extends from the medulla oblongata in the brainstem to the lumbar region of the vertebral column (backbone). The backbone encloses the central canal of the sp ...

are interrupted.Medical Dictionary
Remak reflex

Literary works

Remak has contributed more than 50

essay An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

s to the professional journals, and is the author of: * "''Grundriss der Elektrodiagnostik und Elektrotherapie für Praktische Aerzte''",

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, 1895. * "''

Neuritis Neuritis () is inflammation of a nerve or the general inflammation of the peripheral nervous system. Inflammation, and frequently concomitant demyelination, cause impaired transmission of neural signals and leads to aberrant nerve function. Neuri ...

und

Polyneuritis Peripheral neuropathy, often shortened to neuropathy, is a general term describing disease affecting the peripheral nerves, meaning nerves beyond the brain and spinal cord. Damage to peripheral nerves may impair sensation, movement, gland, or o ...

''," in Nothnagel's, "Handbuch der Speziellen Pathologic und Therapie", ib. 1900.

References

Jewish Encyclopedia
authors:

Isidore Singer Isidore Singer (10 November 1859 – 20 February 1939) was an American encyclopedist and editor of ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'' and founder of the American League for the Rights of Man. Biography Singer was born in 1859 in Weisskirchen, M ...

& Frederick T. Haneman 1849 births 1911 deaths German neurologists Jewish physicians 19th-century German Jews Physicians of the Charité {{Germany-med-bio-stub