Jean Alexandre Barré (25 May 1880,

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

– 26 April 1967,

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

) was a French

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 in 1916 worked on the identification of Guillain-Barré-Strohl syndrome, as well as

Barré–Liéou syndrome Barré–Liéou syndrome is a traditional medical diagnosis that is not utilized frequently in modern medicine. It is a complex combination of symptoms, amounting to a headache syndrome, that was originally hypothesized to be due to cervical spond ...

Biography

First studies

He studied medicine in

, afterwards serving his internship in

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 ...

, where he was influenced by

Joseph Babinski Joseph Jules François Félix Babinski ( pl, Józef Julian Franciszek Feliks Babiński; 17 November 1857 – 29 October 1932) was a French- Polish professor of neurology. He is best known for his 1896 description of the Babinski sign, a pathologi ...

(1857–1932). In 1912 he obtained his medical doctorate with a thesis on osteoarthropathy associated with

tabes dorsalis Tabes dorsalis is a late consequence of neurosyphilis, characterized by the slow degeneration (specifically, demyelination) of the neural tracts primarily in the dorsal root ganglia of the spinal cord (nerve root). These patients have lancinating n ...

Guillain-Barré-Strohl syndrome

''See also

André Strohl André Strohl (20 March 1887 – 10 March 1977) was a French physiologist who was a native of Poitiers. He is remembered for his role in the diagnosis of Guillain–Barré syndrome (sometimes called Guillain–Barré–Strohl syndrome), a form o ...

.'' During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he worked in a neurological unit of the 6th army, directed by

Georges Guillain Georges Charles Guillain () (3 March 1876 – 29 June 1961) was a French neurologist born in Rouen. He studied medicine in Rouen and Paris, where he learned clinical education at several hospitals. He developed an interest in neurology, and his ...

(1876-1961), with whom he began a longtime collaboration. In 1919 he was appointed professor of neurology in

. He was especially interested in

vestibular The Vestibular (from pt, vestíbulo, "entrance hall") is a competitive examination and is the primary and widespread entrance system used by Brazilian universities to select the students admitted. The Vestibular usually takes place from Novem ...

function and disorders associated with the

vestibular system The vestibular system, in vertebrates, is a sensory system that creates the sense of balance and spatial orientation for the purpose of coordinating movement with balance. Together with the cochlea, a part of the auditory system, it constitutes ...

. He was founder of the journal ''Revue d’oto-neuro-ophtalmologie''.

Barré test

Barré is also credited with the "Barré Test" which may identify

pronator drift In medicine, pronator drift (also known as pyramidal drift) refers to a pathologic sign seen during a neurological examination. Jean Alexandre Barré is credited with having first described it; thus it is sometimes known as the Barré test or sign ...

or pyramidal drift, although the test was earlier described by Giovanni Mingazzini. This test is performed by making the

patient A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other health c ...

stretch out their

hands A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each " ...

with the palms facing upwards, and then having the patient close their eyes. If one

hand A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each "h ...

drops involuntarily (or drops after the physician taps on the patient's palms), the

test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

indicates damage to the

pyramidal tract The pyramidal tracts include both the corticobulbar tract and the corticospinal tract. These are aggregations of efferent nerve fibers from the upper motor neurons that travel from the cerebral cortex and terminate either in the brainstem (''cort ...

. A maneuver that is sometimes used for examining the legs for latent pyramidal

paresis In medicine, paresis () is a condition typified by a weakness of voluntary movement, or by partial loss of voluntary movement or by impaired movement. When used without qualifiers, it usually refers to the limbs, but it can also be used to desc ...

is referred to as the "Mingazzini test" (named after Italian neurologist Giovanni Mingazzini 1859-1929).

Written works

Barré was the author of over 800 scientific papers. With Guillain, he was co-author of ''Travaux neurologiques de guerre'' (1920), a book that was published in three editions.WorldCat Identities
(publications) His doctoral thesis, ''Les osteo-arthropathies du tabès'', was a continuation of

Jean Charcot Jean-Martin Charcot (; 29 November 1825 – 16 August 1893) was a French neurologist and professor of anatomical pathology. He worked on hypnosis and hysteria, in particular with his hysteria patient Louise Augustine Gleizes. Charcot is known a ...

's research of the disorder. Barré died in 1967 at age 86.

References

Jean Alexandre Barré
@

Who Named It ''Whonamedit?'' is an online English-language dictionary of medical eponyms and the people associated with their identification. Though it is a dictionary, many eponyms and persons are presented in extensive articles with comprehensive bibliograph ...

External links

Google Books
Neurological Eponyms edited by Peter J. Koehler, George W. Bruyn, John M. S. Pearce. 1880 births 1967 deaths French neurologists Physicians from Nantes Academic staff of the University of Strasbourg {{France-med-bio-stub