Oliver Sacks
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2008-07-14T07:17:23Z
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{{Infobox Medical Person
|name =Oliver Sacks
|box_width =
|image = Oliver Sacks.jpg
|image_width = 200px
|caption = Oliver Sacks in 2005.
|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1933|7|9}}
|birth_place = [[London]]
|death_date =
|death_place =
|profession = physician
|specialism = [[neurology]]
|research_field =
|known_for = popular series of books about cases and patients
|years_active = 1966 - present
}}
'''Oliver Wolf Sacks''', [[CBE]] (born [[July 9]], [[1933]], [[London]]), is a [[United States]]-based [[United Kingdom|British]] [[neurologist]] who has written popular books about his patients, the most famous of which is ''[[Awakenings (book)|Awakenings]],'' which was adapted into a [[Awakenings|film]] starring [[Robin Williams]] and [[Robert De Niro]].
== Early life and education ==
The fourth and youngest child of a prosperous [[North London]] [[Jew]]ish [[medicine|medical]] family: his father, Sam, a doctor; his mother, Elsie, a surgeon. Aged six, in 1939, his parents sent him to a boarding school in the [[Midlands]] for four years to keep him out of harm's way.<ref name="GuardianProfile">{{cite web |url= http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,1429477,00.html |title= Oliver Sacks Profile: Seeing double |author= Andrew Brown |work= [[The Guardian]] |date= [[5 March]] [[2005]] }}</ref>
Sacks earned a [[Bachelor of Arts]] (BA) in physiology and biology from [[The Queen's College, Oxford|The Queen's College]], [[Oxford University]] in 1954. He proceeded to graduate with a [[Master of Arts (postgraduate)|Master of Arts]] (MA) from the same college in 1958. Furthermore, he also graduated with a [[MB ChB]] in 1958; in so doing, he qualified as a doctor.
== Professional life ==
{{Neuropsychology}}
After converting his British qualifications to American recognition (i.e., an [[MD]] as opposed to [[MB ChB]]), Sacks moved to [[New York]], where he has lived since 1965, and taken twice weekly [[counseling|therapy]] sessions since 1966.<ref name="GuardianProfile"/>
In 1966, Sacks began working as a consulting neurologist at Beth Abraham Hospital (now Beth Abraham Health Services), a chronic care facility in the Bronx. It was here that he first encountered a group of patients, many of whom had spent decades unable to initiate movement due to the devastating effects of the 1920s sleeping sickness, [[encephalitis lethargica]].<ref>Music Has Power Awards Event Journal, Institute for Music and Neurologic Function, November 2006</ref> His work at Beth Abraham provided the foundation on which the [[Institute for Music and Neurologic Function]] (IMNF), where Sacks is currently an honorary medical advisor, is built.{{Fact|date=July 2008}} In 2000, he was honored with the IMNF’s ''Music Has Power Award'' for his contributions towards advancing knowledge of the power of music to awaken and heal, and again in 2006 to commemorate his 40th year at Beth Abraham and recognize his dedication to its patients.{{Fact|date=July 2008}}
Sacks was formerly a clinical professor of neurology at the [[Albert Einstein College of Medicine]], adjunct professor of neurology at the [[New York University]] School of Medicine, where he worked for over 43 years.{{Fact|date=July 2008}} On [[September 1]], [[2007]], he became professor of clinical neurology and clinical psychiatry at the [[Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons]], leading that department while serving as Columbia University's first "artist"—a new position the university hopes will help bridge the gap between disciplines such as medicine, law, and economics.<ref name="ColumbiaApptNYT"/> He remains a consultant neurologist to the [[Little Sisters of the Poor]], and maintains a practice in [[New York City]].
==Literary work==
Sacks considers that his literary style follows the tradition of 19th-century "clinical anecdotes," a literary style that included informal case histories, following the writings of [[Alexander Luria]].<ref name="TranscriptRadioShow">{{cite web |url= http://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/mind/stories/s1334384.htm |title= The Inner Life of the Broken Brain: Narrative and Neurology |author= [[All in the Mind (Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio)|All in the Mind]] |work= [[Radio National]] |date= [[2 April]] [[2005]]}}</ref>
In 2007,<ref name="ColumbiaApptNYT">{{cite web |url= http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/01/books/01sack.html |title= Oliver Sacks Joins Columbia Faculty as ‘Artist’ |author= Motoko Rich |work= [[The New York Times]] |date= [[1 September]] [[2007]] |quote= The appointment grew out of conversations that Dr. Sacks had with several people, including [[Eric Kandel]], a [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine|Nobel laureate in medicine]] and a professor at [[Columbia University|Columbia]], and [[Gregory Mosher]], director of the Arts Initiative at Columbia, which aims to incorporate an [[Interdisciplinarity|interdisciplinary approach]] to the arts into the undergraduate experience. }}</ref> [[Columbia University]], where Sacks serves as Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry, appointed Sacks as "its first Columbia artist, a newly created designation."{{Fact|date=July 2008}}
Sacks describes his cases with little clinical detail, concentrating on the experiences of the patient (in the case of his ''[[A Leg to Stand On]]'', the patient was himself). The patients he describes are often able to adapt to their situation in different ways despite the fact that their neurological conditions are usually considered incurable.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sacks|first=Oliver|title=An Anthropologist on Mars|origyear=1995|edition=New Ed|date=1996-01-12|publisher=Picador|location=London|isbn=0-330-34347-5|pages=xiii–xviii|chapter=Preface|quote="The sense of the brain's remarkable plasticity, its capacity for the most striking adaptations, not least in the special (and often desperate) circumstances of neural or sensory mishap, has come to dominate my own perception of my patients and their lives."}}</ref> His most famous book, ''[[Awakenings (book)|Awakenings]]'', upon which the [[Awakenings|movie of the same name]] is based, describes his experiences using the new drug [[L-Dopa]] on Beth Abraham post-encephalitic patients in 1969. ''[[Awakenings (book)|Awakenings]]'' was also the subject of the first film made in the British television series ''[[Discovery (TV series)|Discovery]]''.
In his other books, he describes cases of [[Tourette syndrome]] and various effects of [[Parkinson's disease]]. The title article of ''[[The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat]]'' is about a man with [[visual agnosia]] and was the subject of a [[1986]] [[opera]] by [[Michael Nyman]]. According to a Letter to the Editor published by the ''Journal of autism and developmental disorders'', the exact details in the book should not be taken literally and there are alternate, skeptical views.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Yamaguchi M |title=Questionable aspects of Oliver Sacks' (1985) report |journal=J Autism Dev Disord |volume=37 |issue=7 |pages=1396; discussion 1389–9, 1401 |year=2007 |month=August |pmid=17066308 |doi=10.1007/s10803-006-0257-0 |url=http://secamlocal.ex.ac.uk/people/staff/mrwatkin/isoc/yamaguchi-sacks.pdf|format=PDF}}</ref> The title article of ''[[An Anthropologist on Mars]]'' is about [[Temple Grandin]], a professor with high-functioning [[autism]]. In his book ''[[The Island of the Colorblind]]'' he describes the [[Chamorro people]] of [[Guam]], who have a high incidence of a form of [[Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis|ALS]] known as ''Lytico-bodig'' (a devastating combination of ALS, dementia, and parkinsonism). Along with [[Paul Cox (ethnobotanist)|Paul Cox]], Sacks is responsible for the resurgence in interest in the Guam ALS cluster, and has published papers setting out an environmental cause for the cluster, namely toxins such as [[beta-methylamino L-alanine]] (BMAA) from the cycad nut accumulating by [[biomagnification]] in the [[flying fox]] bat.<ref name=Ncbi1> [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15355492&query_hl=6&itool=pubmed_docsum Occurrence of beta-methylamino-l-alanine (BMAA) in ALS/PDC patients from Guam], ''[[National Institutes of Health]]'', [[October 11]] [[2004]]</ref><ref name=Ncbi2>[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11914415&query_hl=6&itool=pubmed_docsum Cycad neurotoxins, consumption of flying foxes, and ALS-PDC disease in Guam], ''[[National Institutes of Health]]'', [[November 26]] [[2002]]</ref>
Sacks's writings have been translated into 21 languages, including [[Catalan language|Catalan]], [[Finnish language|Finnish]], and [[Turkish language|Turkish]]. He was awarded the [[Lewis Thomas Prize|Lewis Thomas Prize for Writing about Science]] in 2001.{{Fact|date=July 2008}} [[University of Oxford|Oxford University]] awarded him an [[Honorary degree|honorary]] [[Doctor of Civil Law]] degree in June 2005.{{Fact|date=July 2008}} In [[March 2006]], he was one of 263 doctors who published an open letter in ''[[The Lancet]]'' criticizing American military doctors who administered or oversaw the [[force-feeding]] of [[Guantanamo Bay detainment camp|Guantanamo detainees]] who had committed themselves to [[hunger strike]]s.<ref name=Scotsman060310> [http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673606683268/abstract Forcefeeding and restraint of Guantanamo Bay hunger strikers], ''[[The Lancet]]'', Volume 367, Number 9513, [[March 11]] [[2006]].</ref>
==Awards and mention ==
He was appointed [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] (CBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours.<ref>{{LondonGazette |issue=58729 |date=[[14 June]] [[2008]] |startpage=25 |supp=yes |notarchive=yes}}</ref>
== Books ==
*''[[Migraine (book)|Migraine]]'' ([[1970]])
*''[[Awakenings (book)|Awakenings]]'' ([[1973]])
*''[[A Leg to Stand On]]'' ([[1984]]) (Sacks' own experience of losing the control of one of his legs after an accident.)
*''[[The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat]]'' ([[1985]])
* ''[[Seeing Voices: A Journey into the Land of the Deaf]]'' (1989). Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-06083-0.
*''[[An Anthropologist on Mars]]'' ([[1995]])
*''[[The Island of the Colorblind]]'' ([[1997]]) (total congenital [[color blindness]] in an island society)
*''[[Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood]]'' ([[2001]])
*''[[Oaxaca Journal]]'' ([[2002]])
*''[[Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain]]'' ([[2007]])
==Essays and articles==
* "The Mind's Eye (Oliver Sacks)" (positive experiences of blind people) - published in "The Best American Essays 2004", Ed. Robert Atwan
==References==
{{reflist}}
== External links==
{{wikiquote}}
* [http://www.oliversacks.com/ Oliver Sacks website]
* [http://wiredforbooks.org/oliversacks/ 1989 audio interview with Oliver Sacks at Wired for Books.org] by [[Don Swaim]]
* [http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.04/sacks_pr.html ''Wired'' article (04/2002)]
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/08/opinion/08SACK.html?ex=1391576400&en=68476e9da837f91f&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND New York Times Op-Ed by Oliver Sacks regarding the Island of Stability theory]
* [http://www.rosetta.co.uk/mind.htm The Mind Traveller]
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/16/opinion/16sacks.html New York Times] Op-Ed piece about ''encephalitis lethargica''.
* [http://www.fora.tv/2007/10/21/Oliver_Sacks_Musicophilia 2007 video of Oliver Sacks discussing his book ''Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain''] (10/27/2007)
*[http://www.nybooks.com/articles/21059 The Musical Mystery] Musicophilia review by [[Colin McGinn]] from ''[[The New York Review of Books]]''
* [http://www.tate.org.uk/tateetc/issue10/mindseye.htm article in TATE ETC. Summer 2007 including exclusive stereograph of his first photograph, taken at age 12]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sacks, Oliver}}
[[Category:1933 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:British Jews]]
[[Category:English Jews]]
[[Category:People from London]]
[[Category:Alumni of The Queen's College, Oxford]]
[[Category:British neurologists]]
[[Category:British neuroscientists]]
[[Category:Members of The American Academy of Arts and Letters]]
[[Category:Columbia University faculty]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]]
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