The Jumping Frenchmen of Maine were a group of 19th-century lumberjacks who exhibited a rare disorder of unknown origin. The syndrome entails an exaggerated startle reflex which may be described as an uncontrollable "jump". Individuals with this condition could exhibit sudden movements in all parts of the body. Jumping Frenchmen syndrome shares some symptoms with other startle disorders.
Individuals with this condition were first found in the Moosehead Lake region of Maine, and were first described by George Miller Beard in 1878.
Signs and symptoms
George Miller Beard recorded individuals who would obey any command given suddenly, even if it meant striking a loved one; the Jumping Frenchmen seemed to react abnormally to sudden stimuli. Beard noted that the men were "suggestible" One theory is that it is a genetic condition. An observation of 50 cases found the disorder to be remotely located and concentrated in the northern regions of Maine. Fourteen of these cases were found in four families.
Differential diagnosis
Jumping Frenchmen of Maine syndrome must be distinguished from other conditions involving the startle reflex or tics.
Tourette syndrome is characterized by multiple physical (motor) tics and at least one vocal (phonic) tic. There are many overlaps when compared clinically, but the abnormal "jumping" response is always provoked, unlike the involuntary tics in Tourette syndrome. among the French Canadians and lumberjacks who lived near Moosehead Lake in northern Maine. Gilles de la Tourette translated Beard's descriptions and published them one year after Beard's papers.
References
Bibliography
Kushner, HI. A cursing brain?: The histories of Tourette syndrome. Harvard University Press, 2000.