Jean-Baptiste Bouillaud (16 September 1796 – 29 October 1881) was a French physician born in Bragette, now part of

Garat, Charente Garat is a commune in the Charente department in southwestern France. Population See also *Communes of the Charente department The following is a list of the 364 communes of the Charente department of France. The communes cooperate in th ...

. Bouillaud was an early advocate of the localization of cerebral functions (especially of speech). He received his medical doctorate in 1823 and later was a professor at the

Charité The Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Charité – Berlin University of Medicine) is one of Europe's largest university hospitals, affiliated with Humboldt University and Free University Berlin. With numerous Collaborative Research Cen ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. Puerto Rican independence leader, surgeon and

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

laureate,

Ramón Emeterio Betances Ramón Emeterio Betances y Alacán (April 8, 1827 – September 16, 1898) was a Puerto Rican independence advocate and medical doctor. He was the primary instigator of the Grito de Lares revolution and is considered to be the father of the Puer ...

, was one of his prominent students.Ojeda Reyes, Félix, ''El Desterrado de París'', pp. 20, 29–30 In 1862 Bouillaud was elected president of the

Académie de Médecine An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

, and in 1868 he became a member of the

Académie des sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at the ...

. Bouillaud performed research of many medical diseases and conditions, including

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, hea ...

and

encephalitis Encephalitis is inflammation of the brain. The severity can be variable with symptoms including reduction or alteration in consciousness, headache, fever, confusion, a stiff neck, and vomiting. Complications may include seizures, hallucinations, ...

, to name a few. He is remembered for providing a correlation between

rheumatism Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including art ...

and

, and French medical dictionaries still refer to acute rheumatoid

endocarditis Endocarditis is an inflammation of the inner layer of the heart, the endocardium. It usually involves the heart valves. Other structures that may be involved include the interventricular septum, the chordae tendineae, the mural endocardium, or the ...

as "Bouillaud's disease". He described this condition in the treatise "''Traité clinique des maladies du coeur''". Bouillaud was an early advocate of the drug

digitalis ''Digitalis'' ( or ) is a genus of about 20 species of herbaceous perennial plants, shrubs, and biennials, commonly called foxgloves. ''Digitalis'' is native to Europe, western Asia, and northwestern Africa. The flowers are tubular in sha ...

for treatment of heart ailments. He referred to digitalis as the "opium of the heart". Along with

cardiologist Cardiology () is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular hear ...

Pierre Potain (1825–1901), he performed studies of "heart sounds" involving the differentiation between normal and abnormal heart rhythms. Bouilland was an ardent follower of

François-Joseph-Victor Broussais François-Joseph-Victor Broussais (17 December 1772 – 17 November 1838) was a French physician. Life François-Joseph-Victor Broussais was born in Saint-Malo. From his father, who was also a physician, he received his first instructions in medi ...

(1772–1838) in regard to the dubious practice of

bloodletting Bloodletting (or blood-letting) is the withdrawal of blood from a patient to prevent or cure illness and disease. Bloodletting, whether by a physician or by leeches, was based on an ancient system of medicine in which blood and other bodily flu ...

. In 1825 Bouillaud published "''Traité clinique et physiologique de l'encéphalite, ou inflammation du cerveau''" in which he includes one of the earliest studies on localization of brain functions. He maintained that loss of articulate speech was associated with lesions of the

anterior lobe The anterior lobe of cerebellum is the portion of the cerebellum responsible for mediating unconscious proprioception. Inputs into the anterior lobe of the cerebellum are mainly from the spinal cord. It is sometimes equated to the "paleocerebellu ...

References

Further reading