Jean Talairach (January 15, 1911 – March 15, 2007) was a

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

and

neurosurgeon Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and peri ...

who practiced at the

Sainte-Anne Hospital Center The Sainte-Anne Hospital Center (French: ''Centre hospitalier Sainte-Anne'') is a hospital located in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, specializing in psychiatry, neurology, neurosurgery, neuroimaging and addiction. With its creation dating to ...

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 ...

, and who is noted for the

Talairach coordinates Talairach coordinates, also known as Talairach space, is a 3-dimensional coordinate system (known as an 'atlas') of the human brain, which is used to map the location of brain structures independent from individual differences in the size and overa ...

, which are relevant in stereotactic neurosurgery.

Early life

Talairach was the son of a pianist, and learned the

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

to a professional level. However, instead of pursuing a musical career, he then developed a passion for

geometry Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is c ...

and

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

, and was particularly interested in the lecture halls in the medieval medical college in

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

. This interest, in turn, led him to become interested in medicine, especially

psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry. Initial psych ...

. In 1938 he traveled to Paris to study medicine. He completed his doctoral studies at Ste. Anne's Hospital, one of the oldest and most renowned hospitals in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

World War II

During the German occupation of France in the

second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Talairach joined the

French resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

. He created a detailed map of the tunnels under Paris, which he gave to the allies. In 1944 he was inducted into the

Legion of honor 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 ...

Literature

J. Talairach and P. Tournoux, "Co-planar Stereotaxic Atlas of the Human Brain: 3-Dimensional Proportional System - an Approach to Cerebral Imaging", Thieme Medical Publishers, New York, 1988 J. Talairach and P. Tournoux, "Referentially Oriented Cerebral MRI Anatomy: An Atlas of Stereotaxic Anatomical Correlations for Gray and White Matter", Thieme Medical Publishers, New York, 1993 Electronic Talairach Atlases on CD-ROMs W.L. Nowinski, A. Thirunavuukarasuu, A.L. Benabid, "The Cerefy Clinical Brain Atlas: Enhanced Edition with Surgical Planning and Intraoperative Support", Thieme Medical Publishers, New York, 2005 W.L. Nowinski and A. Thirunavuukarasuu, "The Cerefy Clinical Brain Atlas on CD-ROM", Thieme Medical Publishers, New York, 2004 W.L. Nowinski, A. Thirunavuukarasuu, R.N. Bryan, "The Cerefy Atlas of Brain Anatomy: An Introduction to Reading Radiological Scans for Students, Teachers, and Researchers", Thieme Medical Publishers, New York, 2002 W.L. Nowinski, A. Thirunavuukarasuu, D.N. Kennedy, "Brain Atlas for Functional Imaging: Clinical and Research Applications", Thieme, New York, 2000 W.L. Nowinski, R.N. Bryan, R. Raghavan, "The Electronic Clinical Brain Atlas: Multiplanar Navigation of the Human Brain", Thieme Medical Publishers, New York, 1997 (foreword written by Dr. Jean Talairach)

External links

Anatomical labels in Talairach space

Overview of coordinate system

Cerefy website

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Talairach, Jean French neurosurgeons People from Perpignan 1911 births 2007 deaths 20th-century surgeons