François Rabelais and his dystonic giants

Spasmodic torticollis was an early designation used for cervical dystonia. The origin of this name is attributed to French physician and writer François Rabelais in the mid-sixteenth century. This early description of torticollis in the book Pantagruel was an inspiration for the understan...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Léo Coutinho, Carlos Henrique Ferreira Camargo, Hélio Afonso Ghizoni Teive
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Thieme Revinter Publicações 2024-07-01
Series:Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria
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Online Access:http://www.thieme-connect.de/DOI/DOI?10.1055/s-0044-1786764
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Summary:Spasmodic torticollis was an early designation used for cervical dystonia. The origin of this name is attributed to French physician and writer François Rabelais in the mid-sixteenth century. This early description of torticollis in the book Pantagruel was an inspiration for the understanding of cervical dystonia. The art expressed in Rabelais' literature ‒ which was immortalized by the drawings of Gustave Doré ‒ influenced poetry, art, and photography, and led to the adoption of the term torticollis in the neurological sciences.
ISSN:0004-282X
1678-4227