Mihai Ioan Botez
Mihai Ioan Botez (29 June 1927 – 2 June 1998) was a Romanian neurologist and academic who specialised in the field of neuropsychology. He immigrated to Montreal in the 1970s, becoming a professor at the Université de Montréal and director of the department of Neurology at the hospital Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal.
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Academic life
Botez trained at the Romanian School of Neurology founded by Gheorghe Marinescu. He immigrated to Canada in the 1970s, where he became professor of neurology at the Université de Montréal and head of the Neurology Service at the hospital Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal.[1][2] From 1985, his main work featured the role of the cerebellum on human behavior.[3]
Behavioral neurology
Botez became a proficient researcher in several fields of behavioral neurology in both human and animal subjects.[4]
Folic acid
In the 1970s, Botez' main research subject was the effects of folic acid and thiamine on the central nervous system, relevant for restless legs syndrome, epilepsy, polyneuropathy, and chronic fatigue syndrome.[5][6][7] These articles demonstrated the use of B vitamins in the treatment of neurologic symptoms.
Cerebellum
In the 1980s, Botez pioneered studies on the effects of lesions to the cerebellum on cognition, including patients with spinocerebellar ataxia, Friedreich's ataxia, and mice with spontaneous mutations causing cerebellar damage, such as GRID2-Lc Lurcher.[8][9][10][11][12][13][14] These articles demonstrated the role of the cerebellum in neuropsychology.
Neurochemistry
Together with neurochemists Simon N Young of the Allan Memorial Institute and Tomas A Reader of the Université de Montréal, Botez obtained measures of brain concentrations of neurotransmitters such as biogenic amine metabolites of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin in patients, as well as concentrations and receptor density of these neurotransmitters and glutamic acid in mouse brain, he and his co-workers in neurochemistry provided vital cues to underlying neurochemical abnormalities in patients with B vitamin anomalies and patients with cerebellar atrophy.[15][16][17][18] Such studies lead to successful trials with amantadine, a substance facilitating dopamine transmission, to ameliorate reaction times in cerebellar atrophy,[19] as well as respiratory failure.[20]
References
- Léveillé, Jean. "Hommage posthume au Dr. Mihai-Ioan Botez". L'Association des médecins de langue française du Canada. Archived from the original on September 13, 2004.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
- Forum, Université de Montréal, 1987, vol 21, no 28, p 1.
- Forum, Université de Montréal, 1989, vol 24, no 10, p 5.
- MI Botez (éd) Neuropsychologie clinique et neurologie du comportement. Paris: Presses de l’Université de Montréal et Masson, 2e éd., pp 319-337, 1996.
- Botez MI, Peyronnard JM, Bachevalier J, Charron L (September 1978). "Polyneuropathy and folate deficiency". Archives of Neurology. 35 (9): 581–4. doi:10.1001/archneur.1978.00500330029005. PMID 210747.
- Botez MI, Peyronnard JM, Bérubé L, Labrecque R (1979). "Relapsing neuropathy, cerebral atrophy and folate deficiency. A close association". Applied Neurophysiology. 42 (3): 171–83. doi:10.1159/000102361. PMID 464598.
- Botez MI, Fontaine F, Botez T, Bachevalier J (1977). "Folate-responsive neurological and mental disorders: report of 16 cases. Neuropsychological correlates of computerized transaxial tomography and radionuclide cisternography in folic acid deficiencies". European Neurology. 16 (1–6): 230–46. doi:10.1159/000114904. PMID 615714.
- Botez MI, Pedraza OL, Botez-Marquard T, Vézina JL, Elie R (1993). "Radiologic correlates of reaction time measurements in olivopontocerebellar atrophy". European Neurology. 33 (4): 304–9. doi:10.1159/000116959. PMID 8348918.
- Botez-Marquard T, Botez MI (1997). "Olivopontocerebellar atrophy and Friedreich's ataxia: neuropsychological consequences of bilateral versus unilateral cerebellar lesions". International Review of Neurobiology. 41: 387–410. doi:10.1016/S0074-7742(08)60361-X. PMID 9378599.
- Botez MI (1993). "Cerebellum and non-motor behaviour". Romanian Journal of Neurology and Psychiatry. 31 (3–4): 189–93. PMID 8011482.
- Botez-Marquard T, Botez MI (1993). "Cognitive behavior in heredodegenerative ataxias". European Neurology. 33 (5): 351–7. doi:10.1159/000116970. PMID 8243509.
- Lalonde R, Botez MI (1990). "The cerebellum and learning processes in animals". Brain Research. Brain Research Reviews. 15 (3): 325–32. doi:10.1016/0165-0173(90)90006-A. PMID 2289089.
- Botez MI, Botez T, Elie R, Attig E (June 1989). "Role of the cerebellum in complex human behavior". Italian Journal of Neurological Sciences. 10 (3): 291–300. doi:10.1007/BF02333774. PMID 2767936.
- Botez MI, Gravel J, Attig E, Vézina JL (August 1985). "Reversible chronic cerebellar ataxia after phenytoin intoxication: possible role of cerebellum in cognitive thought". Neurology. 35 (8): 1152–7. doi:10.1212/wnl.35.8.1152. PMID 4022349.
- Botez MI, Young SN (May 2001). "Biogenic amine metabolites and thiamine in cerebrospinal fluid in heredo-degenerative ataxias". The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences. 28 (2): 134–40. PMID 11383938. Archived from the original on 2003-05-01.
- Botez MI, Young SN (February 1991). "Effects of anticonvulsant treatment and low levels of folate and thiamine on amine metabolites in cerebrospinal fluid". Brain. 114 (1A): 333–48. PMID 1705463.
- Reader TA, Strazielle C, Botez MI, Lalonde R (March 1998). "Brain dopamine and amino acid concentrations in Lurcher mutant mice". Brain Research Bulletin. 45 (5): 489–93. doi:10.1016/S0361-9230(97)00430-9. PMID 9570718.
- Strazielle C, Lalonde R, Riopel L, Botez MI, Reader TA (April 1996). "Regional distribution of the 5-HT innervation in the brain of normal and lurcher mice as revealed by [3H]citalopram quantitative autoradiography". Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy. 10 (2): 157–71. doi:10.1016/0891-0618(96)00115-9. PMID 8783044.
- Botez MI, Botez-Marquard T, Elie R, Le Marec N, Pedraza OL, Lalonde R (1999). "Amantadine hydrochloride treatment in olivopontocerebellar atrophy: a long-term follow-up study". European Neurology. 41 (4): 212–5. doi:10.1159/000008053. PMID 10343152.
- Botez MI, Mayer P, Bellemare F, Couture J (August 1997). "Can we treat respiratory failure in Friedreich ataxia?". Archives of Neurology. 54 (8): 1030–3. doi:10.1001/archneur.1997.00550200086015. PMID 9267979.