James Purdon Martin

James Purdon Martin
Born(1893-06-11)11 June 1893
Jordanstown, County Antrim
Died7 May 1984(1984-05-07) (aged 90)
National Hospital, Queen Square, London
OccupationNeurologist
Known fordescription of fragile X syndrome, sometimes called the Martin-Bell syndrome;[1][2]
introduction of a general classification of negative symptoms[3] of basal ganglia disease[4]

James Purdon Martin FRCP (1893–1984) was a British neurologist.[5][6]

Biography

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After education at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution,[7] J. Purdon Martin matriculated in 1912 at Queen's University Belfast and graduated there in with BA in 1915 and MA in 1918. During WWI he attempted to enlist in the British Army but he was graded as medically unfit because of his severe psoriasis. He graduated MB BCh BAO in 1920 and MD in 1922. He held a house appointment in Liverpool for about a year and then in March 1921 joined the staff of London's National Hospital for Nervous Diseases. There he was appointed to the consultant staff in 1925 and was dean of the medical school from 1944 to 1948.[7] He qualified MRCP in 1922 and was elected FRCP in 1930. He was appointed to the consultant staffs of several hospitals in London. During WWII he was neurologist to Eastern Command.[5] J. Purdon Martin gave the Lumleian lectures in 1947 on Consciousness and its disturbances considered from the neurological aspect [8] and in 1963 the Arris and Gale lecture on Basal ganglia and locomotion.[9] He was joint editor of Neurology for a number of years. For the academic year 1959–1960 he was a visiting professor at the University of Colorado Denver.[6]

... in 1927 he established the association between hemiballismus and partial lesion of the Body of Luys. Since most of his work was clinical his reputation depended on sound observation leading to accurate diagnosis and selective treatment and was not to be found through lengthy lists of publications but rather embodied as a corpus of experience in his invited contributions, such as the 8th and especially the (1956) 9th editions of the magisterial (Price's) Textbook of Medicine.[7]

Martin's book The Basal Ganglia and Posture (1967) includes case histories and clinical observations of a large group of patients with post-encephalitic Parkinsonism who were long-stay patients at Highlands Hospital, Winchmore Hill.[10]

Oliver Sacks, an American professor of neurology, wrote: 'Purdon Martin was endlessly thoughtful and ingenious in designing a variety of mechanisms and methods that made it possible for even the most incapacitated patient with Parkinsonism to achieve an artificial normality in gait and posture; lines painted on the floor, counterweights in the belt, loudly ticking pacemakers to set the cadence for walking, and these he always learned from his patients to whom his great book is dedicated. ...'[5]

— Oliver Sacks, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat., Part 1 - 7 On the Level

There were two sons from his first marriage. There were no children from his second marriage.[7]

Selected publications

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References

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  1. ^ Martin, J. P. & Bell, J. (1943). "A pedigree of mental defect showing sex-linkage". J. Neurol. Psychiatry. 6 (3–4): 154–157. doi:10.1136/jnnp.6.3-4.154. PMC 1090429. PMID 21611430.
  2. ^ Kinnell, H. G. (5 September 1987). "Fragile X syndrome: an important preventable cause of mental handicap". Br Med J (Clin Res Ed). 295 (6598): 564–565. doi:10.1136/bmj.295.6598.564. PMC 1248738. PMID 3117231.
  3. ^ Geary, Elizabeth K.; Seidenberg, Michael; Hermann, Bruce (2009). "Atrophy of Basal Ganglia Nuclei and Negative Symptoms in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy". J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci. 21 (2): 152–159. doi:10.1176/appi.neuropsych.21.2.152. PMC 2714910. PMID 19622686.
  4. ^ Donaldson, Ivan; Marsden, C. David; Schneider, Susanne (2012). Marsden's book of movement disorders. Oxford University Press. p. 106. ISBN 9780192619112.
  5. ^ a b c "James Purdon Martin". Munk's Roll, Volume VIII, Lives of the Fellows, Royal College of Physicians.
  6. ^ a b "Obituary. J P Martin, MD, DSc, MD, FRCP". BMJ (Clin Res Ed). 228 (6431): 1698. 2 June 1984. doi:10.1136/bmj.288.6431.1698. S2CID 220196085.
  7. ^ a b c d Froggart, Peter. "Dr James Purdon Martin (1893 – 1984): Physician: neurologist". Dictionary of Ulster Biography.
  8. ^ Martin, J. Purdon (8 January 1949). "Consciousness and its disturbances considered from the neurological aspect. The Lumleian lectures for 1947 delivered at the Royal College of Physicians of London on April 15 and 17, 1947 (slightly abbreviated)". 253 (6541): 48–53. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(49)90383-9. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. ^ Martin, J. Purdon (April 1963). "The Basal Ganglia and Locomotion. Arris and Gale Lecture delivered at the Royal College of Surgeons of England on 3rd January 1963". Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 32 (4): 219–239. PMC 2311553. PMID 19310369.
  10. ^ Miller, Henry (April 1968). "Review of The Basal Ganglia and Posture by James Purdon Martin". Proc R Soc Med. 61 (4): 434–435. doi:10.1177/003591576806100451. PMC 1902342.
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