Jumping Frenchmen of Maine is a rare disorder originally described by G. M. Beard in 1878. It results in an exaggerated "startle" reflex, and was first noted among related French-Canadian lumberjacks in the Moosehead Lake area of Maine. It is not clear if the disorder is neurological or psychological. 1878 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... French Canadian is a term that has several different connotations. ... Lumberjack is the traditional name of a person, almost always a man, who makes his living cutting down trees. ... Map of Moosehead Lake. ... Official language(s) None Capital Augusta Largest city Portland Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 39th 86,542 km² 305 km 515 km 13. ...

The "Jumping Frenchmen" seemed to react abnormally to sudden stimuli. Beard recorded, for instance, individuals who would obey any command given suddenly, even if it meant striking a loved one, and repeat back unfamiliar or foreign phrases uncontrollably. Beard also noticed that the condition was often shared within a family, suggesting that it was inherited.

The interest sparked by Beard's publication about the disease inspired Georges Gilles de la Tourette to investigate what later became known as Tourette's syndrome. Further studies of the condition in the 1980s, however, cast doubt on whether the "Jumping Frenchmen" phenomenon was in fact a physical condition like Tourette's. Documentation of direct observation of "Jumping Frenchmen" has been scarce, and while videotape evidence was recorded by several researchers that showed the condition to be real, Saint-Hilaire concluded from studying eight affected people that it was brought on by conditions at their lumber camps and was psychological, not neurological. Georges Gilles de la Tourette (1857-1904) was a French neurologist who first described the symptoms of Tourette syndrome. ... Tourette syndrome — also called Tourettes syndrome, Tourette Spectrum (TS), Tourettes disorder, or Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (after its discoverer, Georges Gilles de la Tourette) — is a neurological or neurochemical disorder characterized by tics — involuntary, rapid, sudden movements or vocalizations that occur repeatedly in the same way. ...

See also

• Latah
• Kok disease

Latah is a condition of hyperstartling found in southeast Asia that is commonly considered a culture-bound syndrome. ...

External link

• OMIM 244100

/ The Mendelian Inheritance in Man project is a database that catalogues all the known diseases with a genetic component, and - when possible - links them to the relevant genes in the human genome. ...