Ludwig Bruns

Ludwig Bruns (June 25, 1858 - November 9, 1916) was a German neurologist who was a native of Hannover. He studied medicine in Göttingen and Munich, receiving his doctorate in 1882. Subsequently, he was an assistant to Eduard Hitzig (1839-1907) at the insane asylum in Nietleben and at the psychiatric and nerve clinic in Halle. Afterwards he worked with Karl Westphal (1833-1890) and Hermann Oppenheim (1858-1919) at the Charité Hospital in Berlin. Bruns would maintain a working relationship with Oppenheim throughout his professional career. Later he returned to his hometown of Hannover where he became a professor of neurology. Bruns was the first director of the German Society of Neurologists.

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Bruns was interested in all aspects of neurology; however he is best-known for his work in child neurology and neuropsychology. In 1897 he published an important treatise regarding localization of tumors titled Die Geschwultse des Nervensystem (Tumors of the Nervous System). In 1906 Bruns published Die Hysterie im Kindesalter (Hysteria in Childhood) in which he explains that abnormal behaviour in children is due to internal conflicts, and is largely caused by overbearing parents who favor harsh punishment. His best remembered written work is Handbuch der Nervenkrankheiten im Kindesalter (Handbook of Nervous Diseases of Childhood), co-written with August Cramer (1860-1912) and Theodor Ziehen (1862-1950), and is a voluminous tome of nearly 900 pages.

Associated epoyms:

• Bruns ataxia: Difficulty in moving the feet when they are in contact with the ground and a tendency to fall backwards, associated with frontal lobe lesions.
• Bruns’ syndrome: Characterized by sudden and severe headache, accompanied by vomiting and vertigo, triggered by abrupt movement of the head. Principal causes are cysts and cysticerosis of the fourth ventricle, and tumours of the midline of the cerebellum and third ventricle.
• Bastian-Bruns law: In complete transverse lesion in the upper spinal cord, the tendon reflexes and muscular tone below the level of the lesion are lost. Named with neurologist Henry Charlton Bastian (1837-1915).

References

• Founders of Child Neurology
• Who Named It?; Ludwig Bruns