Dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy is an autosomal dominant spinocerebellar ataxia which occurs most frequently among the Japanese. "Dentato" refers to the dentate nucleus of the cerebellum; and "rubral" alludes to the red nucleus. "Pallido" of course indicates the globus pallidus. But what does "luysian" refer to? I posed this question to the illustrious
Dr. John Donahue (pictured), neuroanatomist extraordinaire, who reminded me that the
subthalamic nucleus is also knows as the "Body of Luys" or "Corpus Luysii", named in honor of the noted French neurologist
Jules Bernard Luys (1828–1897), who gave the first detailed description of this structure in the basal ganglia.
Dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy is an autosomal dominant spinocerebellar ataxia which occurs most frequently among the Japanese. "Dentato" refers to the dentate nucleus of the cerebellum; and "rubral" alludes to the red nucleus. "Pallido" of course indicates the globus pallidus. But what does "luysian" refer to? I posed this question to the illustrious Dr. John Donahue (pictured), neuroanatomist extraordinaire, who reminded me that the subthalamic nucleus is also knows as the "Body of Luys" or "Corpus Luysii", named in honor of the noted French neurologist Jules Bernard Luys (1828–1897), who gave the first detailed description of this structure in the basal ganglia.