Alfred Goldscheider (1858-1935)

Alfred Goldscheider (August 4, 1858 - April 10, 1935) was a German neurologist who was born in Sommerfeld (today Lubsko, Poland).

He studied medicine at Friedrich-Wilhelm Medical-Surgical Institute in Berlin, and subsequently spent the next seven years as a military physician. During this time he was also an assistant to physiologist Emil du Bois-Reymond. Later he became a professor at the University of Berlin.

Goldscheider is best-known for his work with the somatosensory system, particularly research of the body's thermoreceptors concerning its localized "coolness" and "warmness" spots. He also performed research of localized tactile skin sensitivity, including tests involving "pain" and "tickle" sensations. The eponymous terms Goldscheider's test and Goldscheider's percussion are derived from his research. During this time period in the early 1880s, Swedish physician Magnus Blix (1849-1904) of the University of Uppsala was performing similar tests, independent of Goldscheider.

In the late 1890s with neurologist Edward Flatau, Goldscheider performed studies on the structure of nerve cells and their changes under different stimuli. He is also credited with describing the skin disorder, epidermolysis bullosa, which is sometimes referred to as Goldscheider's disease.

[edit] References

• History of Neuroscience Cutaneous sensory spots and the law of specific nerve energies (biography)