Franz Nissl (1860-1919), noted neuropsychiatrist and neuropathologist, staining the neuron, but not limiting it

ABSTRACT Franz Alexander Nissl carried out studies on mental and nervous disorders, as a clinician, but mainly as a pathologist, probably the most important of his time. He recognized changes in glial cells, blood elements, blood vessels and brain tissue in general, achieving this by using a special blue stain he himself developed - Nissl staining, while still a medical student. However, he did not accept the neuron theory supported by the new staining methods developed by Camillo Golgi and Santiago Ramón y Cajal. Nissl had worked with the crème de la crème of German neuropsychiatry, including Alois Alzheimer, besides Emil Kraepelin, Korbinian Brodmann and Walther Spielmeyer. He became (1904), Kraepelin's successor as Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Psychiatric Clinic, in Heidelberg. Moreover, in 1918, the year before Nissl´s death, Kraepelin offered him a research position as head of the Histopathology Department of the newly founded “Deutsche Forschungsanstalt fur Psychiatrie” of the Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry, in Munich.

摘要：弗朗茨·亚历山大·尼斯尔（Franz Alexander Nissl）以临床医师的身份开展研究，但其核心身份为病理学家，堪称其所处时代最具影响力的病理学家之一。还在读医学生时，他便自主研发了一种特殊的蓝色染色剂——尼氏染色（Nissl staining），借此得以观测到神经胶质细胞、血液成分、血管及整体脑组织的病理变化。不过，他并不认可由卡米洛·高尔基（Camillo Golgi）与圣地亚哥·拉蒙-卡哈尔（Santiago Ramón y Cajal）通过新型染色方法所支持的神经元学说（neuron theory）。
尼斯尔曾与德国神经精神病学领域的顶尖学者共事，涵盖埃米尔·克雷佩林（Emil Kraepelin）、阿洛伊斯·阿尔茨海默（Alois Alzheimer）、科尔比尼安·布罗德曼（Korbinian Brodmann）以及瓦尔特·施皮耶迈尔（Walther Spielmeyer）等一众名家。1904年，他接任克雷佩林的职位，出任海德堡大学精神病学教授兼精神病诊所主任。此外，1918年——即尼斯尔逝世的前一年——克雷佩林为他提供了研究职位，使其担任慕尼黑马克斯·普朗克精神病学研究所（Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry）新设立的德意志精神病学研究所（Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Psychiatrie）组织病理学部主任。