Frederic A.

Gibbs, 89, Neurologist And Top Researcher on Epilepsy

By WOLFGANG SAXON Published: October 23, 1992 Dr. Frederic A. Gibbs, a neurologist who brought relief to untold numbers of epileptics, died Sunday at the Whitehall North convalescent home in Northbrook, Ill. He was 89 years old. Dr. Gibbs, who lived in Wilmette, Ill., died after a brief illness resulting from a stroke, according to Gibbs Laboratories Inc. in Wheeling, Ill. Dr. Gibbs did his research at Harvard University's Medical School and the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago. He founded the laboratory that bears his name in 1938 for the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy and for referral services to doctors and laboratories around the world. Dr. Gibbs retired in 1975 from the University of Illinois as a professor of neurology and director of the university's Clinic for Epilepsy. He founded the clinic in 1944, making it the oldest of its kind in the United States. Brain Wave Technology Dr. John R. Hughes, his successor at the clinic, said yesterday that Dr. Gibbs "was the first ever to match electroencephalograph patterns to a particular seizure or other neurological disturbance." "Nearly every EEG wave form we know of was identified and described by Dr. Gibbs," Dr. Hughes said. "His atlases of wave forms and their significance are still the most popular in the world." Electroencephalographic technology was introduced in the mid-1920's by Dr. Hans Berger in Germany, and Dr. Gibbs furthered its clinical application in the United States. He was one of the first to use encephalography, or X-rays of the brain, in this country. After his marriage in 1930 to Dr. Erna Leonhardt, they formed a close and effective husbandand-wife team. Among Dr. Gibbs's many honors was a shared Lasker Award in 1951 with Dr. William G. Lennox for alleviating the suffering of epileptics. Masked Epilepsy Detected One of Dr. Gibbs's achievements was a method he devised to record patients' brain waves and foretell an attack 24 hours before it occurred. EEG could also disclose cases of masked epilepsy that went undetected by other diagnostic procedures. Frederic Andrew Gibbs was born on Feb. 9, 1903, in Baltimore. He graduated from Yale University in 1925, received his M.D. degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1929 and joined the faculty of the Harvard Medical School. It was there that he and his wife began to design and build the electronic instruments they needed for their research and tests. The couple moved to the University of Illinois College of Medicine in 1944 and organized the Clinic for Epilepsy to further explore the causes of epilepsy and treat those afflicted with it. Dr. Gibbs's wife died in 1987. He is survived by two sons, Dr. Erich L. Gibbs of Wilmette and Dr. Fredric A. Gibbs Jr. of Salt Lake City; a sister, Marion Perkins of Dedham, Mass., and four grandchildren.