Korbinian Brodmann
Korbinian Brodmann (17 November 1868 – 22
August 1918) was a German neuropsychiatrist who is Korbinian Brodmann
known for mapping the cerebral cortex and defining 52
distinct regions, known as Brodmann areas, based on
their cytoarchitectonic (histological) characteristics.[1]
Life and career
Brodmann was born in Liggersdorf, Province of
Hohenzollern, Kingdom of Prussia. He studied
medicine in Munich, Würzburg, Berlin, and Freiburg,
where he received his medical diploma in 1895. Korbinian Brodmann
Subsequently he studied at the Medical School in the Born 17 November 1868
University of Lausanne in Switzerland, and then Liggersdorf, Province of
worked in the University Clinic in Munich. He Hohenzollern
received a doctor of medicine degree from the
Died 22 August 1918 (aged 49)
University of Leipzig in 1898, with a thesis on chronic
Munich, Germany
ependymal sclerosis. From 1900 to 1901, Brodmann
also worked in the Psychiatric Clinic at the University Nationality German
of Jena, with Ludwig Binswanger, and in the Occupation neurologist
Municipal Mental Asylum in Frankfurt. There, he met Known for defining Brodmann areas in the
Alois Alzheimer, who was influential in his decision to cerebral cortex
pursue basic neuroscience research.
Following this, Brodmann started to work in 1901 with Cécile and Oskar Vogt at the private institute
Neurobiologische Zentralstation in Berlin, and in 1902 in the Neurobiological Laboratory of the
University of Berlin. In 1915 he joined the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für Hirnforschung, now known as the
Max Planck Institute for Brain Research.
In 1909, Brodmann published his original research on cortical cytoarchitectonics in the monograph
Vergleichende Lokalisationslehre der Großhirnrinde (Localisation in the cerebral cortex). Famously, this
book contained the first map of the cerebral cortex based on regional variations in structure. These
regions would later become known as Brodmann areas.[2]
After completing his work in Berlin, Brodmann joined the University of Tübingen. There, he was
habilitated and made a full professor in 1913. From 1910 to 1916, he served as physician and chairman of
the Anatomical Laboratory at the University Psychiatric Clinic. Brodmann moved to Halle in 1916 to
work in the Nietleben Municipal Hospital. Finally, in 1918, he accepted an invitation from the University
of Munich to direct the group of histology at Psychiatric Research Center.
Brodmann died in Munich rather suddenly of a generalized septic infection following pneumonia, at just
under 50 years of age on 22 August 1918.
Brodmann areas
The cortical areas that Brodmann described and located are now
usually referred to as Brodmann areas. There are a total of 52
areas grouped into 11 histological areas.[3] Brodmann used a
variety of criteria to map the human brain, including attention to
both gross anatomical features and cortical micro-structures.[4]
Brodmann postulated that areas with different structures
performed different functions.[5] Indeed, some of these areas were
later associated to nervous functions, such as the following:
Brodmann area 41 and 42 in the temporal lobe, related
to hearing
Brodmann area 45 and 44 overlap with the Broca's area
for language in humans
Brodmann area 1, 2, and 3 in the postcentral gyrus of
the parietal lobe (the somatosensory region)
Brodmann area 4 in the precentral gyrus of the frontal
lobe (the primary motor area) Brodmann's diagram of the cerebral
Brodmann area 17 and 18 in the occipital lobe (the cortex with the areas he identified
primary visual areas).
His work to characterize brain cytoarchitecture was strongly influenced by Oskar
Vogt, who postulated over 200 distinct areas in the brain.[1] In modern science, the
regions that were identified by Brodmann are frequently referred to by their function,
rather than by the number Brodmann assigned to them. However, in some situations,
the use of Brodmann numbers persists.[6]
References
Modern
1. Stanley Finger (2001). Origins of Neuroscience: A History of Explorations depictions of
Into Brain Function (https://books.google.com/books?id=_GMeW9E1IB4C Brodmann
&pg=PA42). Oxford University Press. pp. 42–. ISBN 978-0-19-514694-3. areas
Retrieved 26 January 2013.
2. Zilles K (2018). "Brodmann: a pioneer of human brain mapping-his impact
on concepts of cortical organization" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC620257
6). Brain. 141 (11): 3262–3278. doi:10.1093/brain/awy273 (https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fbrai
n%2Fawy273). PMC 6202576 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6202576).
PMID 30358817 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30358817).
3. Edwin Clarke; Kenneth Dewhurst; Michael Jeffrey Aminoff (1996). An Illustrated History of
Brain Function: Imaging the Brain from Antiquity to the Present (https://books.google.com/bo
oks?id=yz8YRf2sQDEC&pg=PA123). Norman Publishing. pp. 123–. ISBN 978-0-930405-
65-6. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
4. Philosophy of Psychology and Cognitive Science: A Volume of the Handbook of the
Philosophy of Science Series (https://books.google.com/books?id=Lp93PtrvM0MC&pg=PA1
47). Elsevier. 23 October 2006. pp. 147–. ISBN 978-0-08-046662-0. Retrieved 26 January
2013.
5. Mark F. Bear; Barry W. Connors; Michael A. Paradiso (2007). Neuroscience: Exploring the
Brain (https://archive.org/details/neuroscienceexpl00mark). Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
pp. 197 (https://archive.org/details/neuroscienceexpl00mark/page/197)–. ISBN 978-0-7817-
6003-4. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
6. This article incorporates text (https://openstax.org/books/anatomy-and-physiolog
y/pages/16-2-the-mental-status-exam) available under the CC BY 4.0 license. Betts, J
Gordon; Desaix, Peter; Johnson, Eddie; Johnson, Jody E; Korol, Oksana; Kruse, Dean;
Poe, Brandon; Wise, James; Womble, Mark D; Young, Kelly A (14 May 2023). Anatomy &
Physiology. Houston: OpenStax CNX. 16.2 The Mental Status Exam. ISBN 978-1-947172-
04-3.
External links
Korbinian Brodmann (1868-1918) (https://web.archive.org/web/20100117160423/http://ww
w.korbinian-brodmann.de/english-article-mainmenu-12) article by Professor Laurence Garey
microscope for brain sections from the University of Tübingen (1911), attributed to Korbinian
Brodmann's work (http://www.musoptin.com/zeiss_52496.html) (German language)
Korbinian Brodmann (http://www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/1264.html) WhoNamedIt
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Korbinian_Brodmann&oldid=1163255174"
