Charcot, hysteria, and simulated disorders

Jean-Martin Charcot (1825-1893) was the 19th-century's premier international neurologist. One of his areas of focused interest was the neurologic disorder, hysteria, a condition with distinctive neurologic signs, but no established structural lesions identified at autopsy. Charcot considered hysteria as a physiologic disorder that affected specific neuroanatomic areas of the brain comparable to the same areas that were damaged by structural neurologic disorders provoking the same or similar signs. He considered hysteria primarily a hereditary disorder, but environmental factors including physical and emotional stress served as provoking factors. Charcot drew the strict distinction between hysteria and consciously simulated neurologic disorders, although he was keenly aware that the two disorders could occur in the same patients or be difficult to distinguish at times. He developed specific experimental techniques to separate hysteria from simulation. His studies of hysteria and simulation offer a basis for studies of functional neurologic disorders applicable to the 21st century.