Historical Concepts of Disconnection in the Pioneering Works of Bleuler and Wernicke

Abstract

The importance of terminology is a long-debated issue in psychiatry, and the original use of a term might give important clues to the following diagnostic notions and classifications. One of the pioneers of the modern psychiatry, Bleuler, has coined the term schizophrenia while in his extensive writings he speaks about several forms of splitting of the mental processes. Another major contemporary author to him, Wernicke, adopted another position but the final concept (sejunction) was another intriguing form of talking about disrupted mental processes. While considering the historical character of the work of both these renowned physicians, we have tried to lend some more perspective into the initial concepts of disconnection, as the modern neuroscience is calling it.