Charcot and aphasia: contributions of his assistants

Resumen

The ideas and concepts regarding language and its disorders have a longstanding history. However, it was possible to consider the 19th century as the period when the main milestones on the subject begun to be settled, with Paul Broca's and Carl Wernicke's pivotal findings.
Albeit language disorders (aphasia) were not, apparently, his preferential interest, Charcot engaged himself in the issue, and after thorough studies delivered a series of lectures on this theme at the Salpêtrière Hospital, transcribed by two of his assistants, Charles Féré and Gaetano Rummo, and then published. Other three assistants, inspired in Charcot's teachings, Désiré Bernard, Gilbert Ballet and Pierre Marie, contributed independently with papers or books. The lectures and the contributions of those collaborators were artially incorporated in the Oeuvres Complètes published by Charcot