Essays from noted contributors trace the evolution of the neurological
patient's role, treatment, and place in the history of medicine.
Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, Tourette's, multiple sclerosis, stroke: all
are neurological illnesses that create dysfunction, distress, and
disability. With their symptoms ranging from impaired movement and
paralysis to hallucinationsand dementia, neurological patients present
myriad puzzling disorders and medical challenges.
Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries countless stories
about neurological patients appeared in newspapers, books, medical
papers, and films. Often the patients were romanticized; indeed, it was
common for physicians to cast neurological patients in a grand
performance, allegedly giving audiences access to deep philosophical
insights about the meaning of life and being.
Beyond these romanticized images, however, the neurological patient was
difficult to diagnose. Experiments often approached unethical realms,
and treatment created challenges for patients, courts, caregivers, and
even for patient advocacy organizations.
In this kaleidoscopic study, the contributors illustrate how the
neurological patient was constructed in history and came to occupy its
role in Western culture.
Stephen T. Casper is assistant professor in Humanities and Social
Sciences at Clarkson University. L. Stephen Jacyna is reader in the
History of Medicine and Director of the Centre for the History of
Medicine at University College London.
