Henri Laborit

Henri Marie Laborit ( born November 21, 1914 in Hanoi ( Vietnam ), † 18 May 1995, Paris) was a French military doctor, neurologist, surgeon and chemist.

Life

Laborit researchers was the naval base Toulon ( south of France ) and later a professor at the University of Québec. He researched mainly by the autonomic nervous system, anesthesia, and conducted experiments with sedatives.

He became known as one of the discoverers of the first known psycho- pharmaceutical agent chlorpromazine. Through a " lytic cocktail" tried to alleviate the stress state occurring during major surgery Laborit. 1949 contained this mixture procaine, curare, TEA, atropine and promethazine. Since Laborit particularly noticed the importance of the anti- histamine effect, he recommended in this direction further research. In December 1950, chlorpromazine was synthesized. In February 1952 Laborit had published the first report of chlorpromazine on the main theme. Since Laborit however was mainly interested in the use of chlorpromazine in mentally healthy people in surgery, its importance for the treatment of psychosis is controversial.

Laborit in 1957 nominated for the Nobel Prize, which he received not. For this he was awarded the Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research (also referred to as the " American Nobel Prize ").

Laborit also discovered the neurotransmitter gamma -aminobutyric acid.

To his thesis, it is also in the film My American Uncle ( original: Mon oncle d' Amérique ) by Alain Resnais in 1980 Laborit plays himself and was involved in the script..