Earlier today I discussed on TIPS the Nobel Prize announced
yesterday to Arvid Carlsson for his work on dopamine. According
to the citation, he was honoured for discovering that dopamine
was a neurotransmitter, that Parkinson's was caused by a
deficiency of dopamine in the brain, and that l-dopa was a
treatment for it.
In class today, I mentioned that the use of l-dopa was featured
in the touching film Awakenings, which related the work of George
Cotzias to use it to treat long-standing cases of encephalitis,
which produced a Parkinson's-like inability to move. Then I
realized I didn't understand the link between the two sets of
research.
Did Carlsson's work provide the inspiration for Cotzias, or was
it the other way around? I suppose I could read Oliver Sacks'
book on which the film was based, but it's faster to ask here.
Anyone know the chronological sequence of events that led to the
clinical use of l-dopa, and the contributions of Carlsson and
Cotzias to it?
-Stephen
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Stephen Black, Ph.D. tel: (819) 822-9600 ext 2470
Department of Psychology fax: (819) 822-9661
Bishop's University e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Lennoxville, QC
J1M 1Z7
Canada Department web page at http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy
Check out TIPS listserv for teachers of psychology at:
http://www.frostburg.edu/dept/psyc/southerly/tips/
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