Professor Jean-Michel Gracies, MD, PhD, completed his residency in intensive care, neurorehabilitation, neurology, and acute stroke care at Hôpitaux de Paris, France and received his medical degree and doctorate in Neurophysiology from University of Paris VI. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the pathophysiology and therapy of spasticity at Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute in Sydney, Australia, and a fellowship in neurology/movement disorders at Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York.
After working 10 years as Attending and Clerkship Director in the Neurology Department (Movement Disorders Division) at Mount Sinai Medical Center, Dr. Gracies took a position in 2007 as Professor and Chair in the Department of Rééducation Neurolocomotrice at Hôpital Henri Mondor, Créteil, France. Dr. Gracies has written over 200 original articles, book chapters, theses, reviews, and abstracts. He has served on the editorial board of the Journal of Neural Transmission and is an ad hoc reviewer for Brain, Experimental Brain Research, Muscle and Nerve, Stroke, Movement Disorders, the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, Clinical Neuropharmacology, Clinical Neurophysiology, Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, and The Lancet Neurology. Dr. Gracies is a world-renowned expert on the neurorehabilitation of movement.
In his current position at Hôpital Henri Mondor, he is launching novel pathophysiological concepts, neurorehabilitation programs, and clinical research projects for syndromes such as spastic paresis, parkinsonian syndromes, tremors, peripheral facial palsies, and other movement disorders. His main published contributions to date have been the design, validation, and promotion of the Tardieu Scale for spastic paresis, which he later incorporated into a 5-Step Quantified Clinical Assessment of Spastic Paresis; the definition of the phenomenon of spastic contraction and its recognition as a primary disabling symptom in spastic paresis; and the concept of Guided Self-Rehabilitation Contract (GSC) to be used in the treatment of spastic paresis in particular and in disabling chronic disorders generally.
Dr. Gracies is currently acting as the international coordinator of studies of spasticity using botulinum toxin. Dr. Gracies lectures worldwide on the pathophysiology and treatment of spastic paresis, the neuro-rehabilitative treatment of Parkinson’s disease, the treatment of tremors using botulinum toxin and motor strengthening, and programming methods for deep brain stimulation.
Interviewed by our Different & Able President and Founder, Alexandra Nicklas, Dr. Gracies shares his medical expertise about Functional Proprioceptive Stimulation therapy and its impact in neurorehabilitation. He also discusses the importance of self-rehabilitation in spastic paresis and how one can restore mobility of muscles and brain activation using the afferent impulses triggered by vibrations.
