Dr. Wilder Penfield
would make a medical discovery that would become the foundation for
today’s medical understanding of the parts of the human brain.
It was an area
that Dr. Penfield was passionate about, discovering and unlocking the
hidden treasures within the human mind. During the 1930s relatively
little was known about the actual functions and neuropath ways within
the brain.
In 1935 Dr. Penfield
founded the Montréal Neurological Institute in hopes of bringing together
a team of doctors that would be able to work together to discover more
about the human brain and the resulting medical conditions. Surgeons
and scientists worked together in a collaborative effort to research
and diagnosis the disorders of the brain. Subsequently, these teams
would work on finding surgical treatments for the identified brain disorders.
A revolutionary
concept for the time, Dr. Penfield’s passion for discovering the intricacies
of the brain and its amazing talents in creating altered states for
the body. These changes or disorders were often more advanced and important
than what it appeared to be on initial examination of subjects.
Epilepsy was considered
to be an incurable disease, there did not seem to be an appropriate
treatment nor was there a true understanding of why this disease occurred.
Dr. Penfield developed a method of researching the brain while his patients
were still awake and able to interact with him. Using local anaesthetics
the Doctor could numb the area and thus continue to probe for the damaged
brain matter that was causing the epilepsy.
An interesting
discovery was made as he worked with his patients, when he probed certain
areas of the brain the patients would be able to provide him feedback
on what they were experiencing at that very moment. Through this information
Dr. Penfield was able to map the functions of brain tissues in different
parts of the brain.
One of the doctor’s
patients was a young housewife that was experiencing episodes of seizures
that always seemed to be foretold by the patient smelling burnt toast.
Dr. Penfield undertook this new procedure with this housewife and was
happily surprised that by probing her brain tissue he was actually able
to reproduce the smell of burnt toast. This meant that he was actually
able to locate and pinpoint the cause of this lady’s illness.
It was through
probing the brain tissues and soliciting feedback from his patients
that he began to not only discover the tissues causing the epilepsy,
but also the functions of the various pieces of brain tissue.
Penfield is credited
with discovering the source of memory, when probing the brain his patients
might experience a scent, a strong emotion or other stimuli that was
drawing on past and long since forgotten sensations and emotions. Through
this, he also found the hidden vault of dreams.
Dr. Penfield remained
impassioned about his work in discovering ways to treat weakness, illness
and infirmities of the brain. The medical doctor and scientist would
always be intrigued with learning more about the human brain.
Perhaps what made
this gentleman even more amazing was the humanity with which he approached
his patients and their families. Dr. Penfield knew that the concept
of being awake while someone cut open your scull and poked in your tissues
would not be a procedure that could be performed without taking into
account the emotional state of the patient and the family. He made a
point of getting to know the family and the patient, often befriending
these individuals, always building a high degree of trust in his knowledge,
skills and abilities. This doctor seemed to have it all, including the
bedside manner.
The next time
someone asks you what’s on your mind, just think about Dr. Penfield
who built the map for you.
.gif)
.gif)