Stephen, there is a biography of Cotzias by Vincent Dole at
http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/biomems/gcotzias.html. There is no
mention of Carlsson or even the encephalitis episode of awakenings. As I
read it, Cotzias discovered l-dopa.
Ron
Stephen Black wrote:
> 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
>
>
