Jean-Louis Prévost (May 12, 1838 - September 12, 1927) was a Swiss

neurologist Neurology (from , "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 nervous system, which comprises the brain, the ...

and

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out chemical and ...

who was a native of

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

. He studied at

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, and in 1864 became an interne in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

under Alfred Vulpian (1826–1887). After earning his medical doctorate at Paris in 1868, he returned to his hometown of Geneva, where he maintained a laboratory with Augustus Volney Waller (1816–1870). In 1876 he became a professor of

therapy A therapy or medical treatment is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a medical diagnosis. Both words, ''treatment'' and ''therapy'', are often abbreviated tx, Tx, or Tx. As a rule, each therapy has indications a ...

at the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public university, public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by French theologian John Calvin as a Theology, theological seminary. It rema ...

, and in 1897 succeeded Moritz Schiff (1823–1896) as professor of physiology, a position he held until 1913. Two of his better known students at Geneva were Joseph Jules Dejerine (1849–1917) and Paul Charles Dubois (1848–1918). Prévost is credited with introducing modern medical physiological practices at Geneva, and was the author of over sixty books and articles. While still a student, he co-authored with Jules Cotard (1840–1887), a work on cerebral softening called ''Etudes physiologiques et pathologiques sur le ramollissment cérébral''. With Jacques-Louis Reverdin (1848–1929) and Constant-Edouard Picot (1844–1931), he founded the journal ''Revue médicale de la Suisse''.

Associated eponym

* Prévost's law: Medical sign ( Déviation conjuguée) involving unilateral

brain The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...

lesions, where the head is rotated toward the diseased hemisphere. * Note: He is not to be confused with Jean-Louis Prévost (1790–1850), a botanical artist and a distant relative.

References

''Jean-Louis Prévost''
@ Who Named It {{DEFAULTSORT:Prevost, Jean-Louis Swiss physiologists Swiss neuroscientists Swiss neurologists 1838 births 1927 deaths Academic staff of the University of Geneva Physicians from Geneva