Francois Boller


Francois Boller, born in Montreux, Switzerland in 1938, is a French-American clinical professor of neurology in the Department of Neurology at George Washington University in Washington D.C. currently living and working in Paris, France as a co-series-editor of the Handbook of Clinical Neurology. He is the founder and former Director of the Alzheimer Disease Research Centre in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1993 he co-founded the European Journal of Neurology with Professor Per Soel Sorensen, the official journal of the European Academy of Neurology, which he co-edited until 2007.
In 2004 he received the Ottorino Rossi Award, for his valuable contribution to understanding hitherto hidden aspects of brain-behavior relationships and for his unrelenting activity as a teacher, editor, and promoter of international endeavors in the fields of neurology and neuropsychology. His career has led him to several countries; Italy, France, and the United States. Throughout his itinerary he succeeded in maintaining a very coherent approach to his research. Some of the topics he chose to investigate include focal brain damaged patients - particularly aphasia – diffuse brain damaged patients, cognitive impairment and aging people.

Early life and education

Boller was born from the union of Italian Erminia Martini, and French-Swiss musician Carlo Boller. He spent his first years in Montreux, before moving to Cremona, Italy at 14 years old. There he studied at the Liceo Classico Daniele Manin. After graduating he went to study in Bologna, at the Faculty of Medicine. In 1960 he moved to Pisa to continue his medical studies, where he also worked at the Institute of Physiology directed by Professor Giuseppe Moruzzi. After graduating from the University of Pisa in 1963 with an MD degree, he moved to Milan. There he worked at the Clinical Neurology Institute, under Professor Ennio De Renzi and completed his specialization in neurology.

Scientific career

In 1966 he joined the Department of Neurology of Boston University School of Medicine, under the direction of Professor Norman Geschwind. He completed his residency and obtained a fellowship there in 1970. In 1972 he left to work in the Department of Neurology of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland directed by Joseph Foley. In 1977 he spent a sabbatical year in Paris, where he worked at the INSERM Unit, directed by Henry Hécaen. In 1979 he moved to Pittsburgh, where he was appointed Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh. In parallel, he completed his PhD doctorate at the Case Western Reserve University Cleveland in 1982. In 1985 he founded the University of Pittsburgh's Alzheimer Disease Research Centre.
In 1989 he moved to Paris as Research Director at Inserm. There, he founded a Research Unit dedicated to neurology and neuropsychology of cerebral aging, which he directed until 2005. In 2005 he returned to the United States, working first at the National Institutes of Health until 2013. Then he transferred to George Washington University, under the title of Clinical Professor of Neurology.
In 2017 he moved back to Paris, where he is currently working and living.

Selected publications

  • Boller F. "International neurology meeting in 1929. J Hist Neurosci 2011; 20::379-80.
  • Boller, F G Dalla Barba - The evolution of Psychiatry and Neurology: Two disciplines divided by a common goal? Psychiatry for neurologists, 2006 – Springer
  • Piechowski-Jozwiak B, Boller F, Bogousslavsky J.Universal Connection through Art: Role of Mirror Neurons in Art Production and Reception. Behav Sci. 2017 May 5;7.
  • Bogousslavsky J, Boller F, Iwata M A History of Neuropsychology and Behavioral Neurology Front Neurol Neurosci.2019
  • Boller F, Caputi N Histoire des Sciences Médicales 2023
  • Boller, F. Caputi, N., and Finger, S. Les apports d'Hippocrate et du monde grec à la neurologie et la neuropsychologie . Histoire des Sciences Médicales. 2024 6 : 365-374.
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Books and book chapters

  • Boller F, Segarra JM: Spino-Pontine Degeneration. Handbook of Clinical Neurology, PJ Vinken and JW Bruyn, Eds. North Holland, Amsterdam, Vol 21, Chap. 18, 389-402,1975.
  • Boller F, Frank E: Sexual Dysfunctions of Neurologically Handicapped Adults: Diagnosis, management and rehabilitation. Raven Press, New York, 1982.
  • Boller F, Katzman R, Rascol A, Signoret JL, Christen Y : Biological Markers of Alzheimer's Disease. Research and Perspectives in Alzheimer's Disease. Berlin, Springer Verlag, 1989.
  • Boller, F. Forette, F. Khatchaturian, Z. Christen, Y: Heterogeneity of Alzheimer's disease. Research and Perspectives in Alzheimer's Disease. Berlin, Springer Verlag, 1992.
  • Boller, F, Duyckaerts, C: Alzheimer's disease: clinical and anatomic aspects. In: Behavioral Neurology and Neuropsychology. Feinberg, T & Farah, M,. New York, McGrawHill, 1583-1622, 1996.
  • Boller, F. and S. Muggia. Non-Alzheimer dementias. Handbook of clinical and experimental neuropsychology. G. Denes and G. Pizzamiglio. Hove, Psychology Press.: 437-438.
  • Forette F, Christen, Y Boller F. La maladie d'Alzheimer: Prédiction, prévention, prise en charge FNG Paris, 2000.
  • Boller F, Christen Y, Forette F: Les Frontières de l'Alzheimer. FNG Paris, 2002
  • Boller, F. and S. Suarez. The neuropsychology of infectious and inflammatory brain disorders. Oxford Handbook of Clinical Neuropychology. P. Halligan. Oxford.
  • Bogousslavsky, J and F. Boller. Neurological Disorders in Famous Artists. Karger, Basel.
  • 3 chapters in Vol 6 of the Handbook of Neuropsychology, 2nd Edition, 2001
  • * Pathological correlates of dementia C. Duyckaerts and F. Boller
  • * Cognitive deficits and dementia in Parkinson's disease B. Pillon, F. Boller, R. Levy and B. Dubois
  • * Severe dementia and its evaluation: scales for cognition, behavior and overall functioning M. Verny, L. Hugonot-Diener, F. Boller.
  • Bogousslavsky J, Boller F. Jean-Martin Charcot and art: relationship of the "founder of neurology" with various aspects of art. Prog Brain Res. 2013; 203:185-99.
  • Finger S, Zaidel DW, Boller F, Bogousslavsky, J The Fine Arts, Neurology and Neuroscience. History and Modern Perspectives: Neuro-Historical Dimensions. Progress in Brain Research 2013; 203, Elsevier.
  • Finger S, Zaidel DW, Boller F, Bogousslavsky, J The Fine Arts, Neurology and Neuroscience. History and Modern Perspectives: New discoveries and changing landscapes. Progress in Brain Research 2013; 204, Elsevier. eBook
  • Finger S, Stiles A, Boller F, Literature, Neurology and Neuroscience. History and Modern Perspectives: Progress in Brain Research,2013; 205 Elsevier. eBook
  • Finger S, Stiles A, Boller F, Literature, Neurology and Neuroscience. Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders: Progress in Brain Research,2013; 206 Elsevier. eBook
  • Finger S, Altenmueller E, Boller F, Music, Neurology and Neuroscience. History and Modern Perspectives: Progress in Brain Research, Elsevier, 216,217 2015 eBook
  • Boller F, Forbes, M, Bogousslavsky J: Paul Wittgenstein's right arm and his Phantom Tale of an amputated pianist In: Finger S, Altenmueller E, Boller F, Music, Neurology and Neuroscience. History and Modern Perspectives: Progress in Brain Research, Elsevier,
  • Bogousslavsky J, Boller F, Iwata M A History of Neuropsychology and Behavioral Neurology Front Neurol Neurosci.2019
  • Aminoff, M, Boller F, Swaab D Handbook of Clinical Neurology | Elsevier ISSN: 0072-9752 This is the continuation of the series started by P Vinken and GW Bruyn. So far, 46 volumes of the new series have been published and around 20 are in various stages of preparation.
  • Volume 161. Clinical Neurophysiology: Diseases and Disorders, Part II Published: 15 April 2019 Series Volume Editors: Kerry Levin Patrick Chauvel
  • Volume 160. Clinical Neurophysiology: Basis and Technical Aspects, Part I Published: 1 April 2019 Series Volume Editors: Kerry Levin Patrick Chauvel Hardback
  • Volume 159. Balance, Gait, and Falls Published: 18 December 2018 Series Volume Editors: Brian Day Stephen Lord Hardback
  • Volume 158. Sports Neurology Published: 18 December 2018 Series Volume Editors: Brian Hainline Robert Stern Hardback
  • Volume 157. Thermoregulation Part II Published: 13 December 2018 Series Volume Editor: Andrej A. Romanovsky Hardback
  • Volume 156. Thermoregulation Part I Published: 12 December 2018 Series Volume Editor: Andrej A. Romanovsky Hardback
  • Volume 154. The Cerebellum: From Embryology to Diagnostic Investigations Published: 26 June 2018 Series Volume Editors: Mario Manto Thierry Huisman
  • Volume 155. The Cerebellum: Disorders and Treatment Published: 26 June 2018 Series Volume Editors: Mario Manto Thierry Huisman Hardback
  • Volume 153. Human Prion Diseases Published: 26 June 2018 Series Volume Editors: Maurizio Pocchiari Jean Manson
  • Volume 152. The Neurology of HIV Infection Published: 17 April 2018 Series Volume Editor: Bruce James Brew
  • Volume 151. The Parietal Lobe Published: 28 March 2018 Series Volume Editors: Giuseppe Vallar H. Branch Coslett Hardback
  • Volume 150. Brain Banking Published: 23 March 2018 Series Volume Editors: Ingeborg Huitinga Maree Webster Hardback
  • Volume 149. Metastatic Disease of the Nervous System Published: 29 January 2018 Editors: David Schiff M J Van den Bent Hardback
  • Volume 148. Neurogenetics, Part II Published: 29 January 2018 Series Volume Editors: Daniel H. Geschwind Henry L. Paulson Christine Klein Hardback
  • Volume 147. Neurogenetics, Part I Published: 26 January 2018 Series Volume Editors: Daniel H. Geschwind, Henry L. Paulson, Christine Klein eBook