Neurobiological and pathophysiological concepts of Christfried Jakob (1866–1956) on language and aphasia: An English translation of two communications [1910,1932] and a modern perspective

Abstract

The aim of the present article is to preserve, in English translation, two historical communications on aphasia and the pathophysiology of language by the neurobiologist Christfried Jakob (1866–1956) of Buenos Aires, and to place them in a modern perspective. The morphofunctional basis of human language and its pathology occupied Jakob’s mind over three decades. His synthetic conclusions were based on the neuropathological examination of dozens of aphasic cases from the Hospital de Las Mercedes and the National Women’s Psychiatric Hospital between 1906 and 1936. Special mention is made of the role of the cerebellum, the thalamus, and their connections with the cerebral cortex, and the language network. Current research and imaging studies support and elaborate that which Jacob presented so many years ago; many of his analyses and ideas are informative and remain relevant today.