Constantin von Economo

Constantin Freiherr von Economo (; 21 August 1876 – 21 October 1931) was an Austrian psychiatrist and neurologist of Romanian origin. He is mostly known for his discovery of encephalitis lethargica and his atlas of cytoarchitectonics of the cerebral cortex.

Biography

Family and schooling Constantin Economo von San Serff was born in Brăila, Romania, to Johannes and Helene Economo, a wealthy family with large holdings in Thessaly and Macedonia. The Economo (Οικονόμου, Oikonomou) family originated from Edessa, in the Ottoman Sanjak of Salonica (modern Edessa, Central Macedonia, Greece) where some of Constantin's ancestors were notables, and his family included many bishops. In 1877, the family moved to Trieste, Austria-Hungary, and Constantin spent his childhood and youth in Trieste. He was a good student, speaking several languages fluently. The two divorced before 1924.

Scientific career From 1903 to 1904, he was a resident at the Clinic of Internal Medicine under Carl Wilhelm Hermann Nothnagel. Since 1966, a bust portraying him can be found in the "Arkadenhof" of the University of Vienna.

Scientific work Economo published about 150 articles and books. causing lesions in the substantia nigra.

Von Economo published his findings in an article of 1917, "Die Encephalitis lethargica," and in the monograph "Die Encephalitis lethargica, ihre Nachkrankheiten und ihre Behandlung" in 1929 (Encephalitis lethargica – Its sequelae and treatment). The condition has not occurred since 1940. The textbook contains detailed descriptions of their studies and an introduction to the history of cytoarchitectonic research. Two years later, a shorter version, "Zellaufbau der Großhirnrinde" ("The Cellular Architecture of the Cerebral Cortex") was published and translated into French, Italian and English. The atlas was republished in 2008.

Von Economo and Koskinas divided the cortex into seven lobes (Lobi) with further subdivisions (Regiones and Areae): Lobus frontalis (F): 35 Areae Regio praerolandica: 10 Areae Regio frontalis: 9 Areae Regio orbitomedialis: 16 Areae Lobus limbicus superior (L): 13 Areae Regio limbica superior anterior: 5 Areae Regio limbica superior posterior: 3 Areae Subregio retrosplenialis: 5 Areae Lobus insulae (I): 6 Areae Lobus parietalis (P): 18 Areae Regio postcentralis: 6 Areae Regio parietalis superior: 4 Areae Regio parietalis inferior: 5 Areae Regio parietalis basalis: 3 Areae Lobus occipitalis (O): 7 Areae Lobus temporalis (T): 14 Areae Regio supratemporalis: 5 Areae Regio temporalis propria: 2 Areae Regio fusiformis: 3 Areae Regio temporopolaris: 4 Areae Lobus limbicus inferior/Lobus hippocampi (H): 14 Areae

Von Economo neurons The name "von Economo neurons", or spindle neurons, has been given to large bipolar nerve cells identified by von Economo in layer V of the anterior cingulate and fronto-insular cortex.

Progressive cerebration For von Economo, cerebration meant the evolution of the mind through generations, the increase of the brain mass, and the acquisition of new "organs of thought" due to differentiation of cortical areas. In this context, Economo was interested in "élite brains". He hoped to find microstructural characteristics in these brains distinguishing them from "average brains".