ABSTRACT
Economic hard times combined with Czech nationalism, which increasingly rejected Jews, made the Sigmund Freud family decide to leave Freiberg in October 1859. German scientist Ernst Brucke, who had a particularly strong and lasting influence on Freud, an object of veneration, was assisted by Ernst von Fleischl-Marxow and Sigmund Exner. Inclined towards microscopy, Freud proposed that Meynert's assistant Holländer work with him on the in-depth study of the brain of new-born babies. Helped by different colleagues, Freud tried his hand at various kinds of research involving electric treatments, which were very much in favour in neurology at the time, but also engaged in research devoted to cocaine, which he would complete on June 18, 1884. Freud began by applying orthodox electric treatment as described by Erb, but Charcot's reticence contributed to bringing him to abandon it fairly quickly, although he was also familiar with Breuer's cathartic method.
