By — Jeffrey Brown Jeffrey Brown Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/how-a-custody-war-broke-out-over-a-famous-patients-damaged-brain Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter How a ‘custody war’ broke out over a famous patient’s damaged brain Arts Aug 9, 2016 4:47 PM EDT Jeffrey Brown talks with Luke Dittrich, author of “Patient H.M.,” at Washington’s Lincoln Theater. What makes you, “you”? Surely some part of the answer is your ability to form and maintain memories. A personal history of what you have done, the people you’ve known, beautiful moments and traumas — the facts, thoughts and feelings of who “you” are. Henry Molaison lost his ability to form long-term memories after part of his brain was removed in a surgical procedure, a lobotomy, in 1953. He would become one of the most studied humans in the history of brain science and help scientists come to understand how memories are formed and stored. In the new book “Patient H.M.: A Story of Memory, Madness, and Family Secrets,” Luke Dittrich tells the story of the man known to science for decades under that moniker. But Dittrich does something more, bringing together history, science and even personal memoir, because the man who performed the lobotomy on Molaison was Dittrich’s own grandfather, Dr. William Scoville. When I recently sat down to talk with Dittrich, I knew the task of capturing the full story in a short interview would be daunting. So we decided to divide the conversation into two parts. Part one, broadcast on the NewsHour, introduces Molaison, Dr. Scoville, and the incredible (and at times difficult to read and believe) tale of “psycho-surgical” procedures, a form of human experimentation performed on thousands of people from the 1930s into the 1970s. We ended that part of the conversation where we begin here, with Dittrich raising what he sees as another troubling aspect of the story: who “owns” Molaison as a study subject, who owns the story of the research, plus the dispute over access to Molaison’s brain after his death in 2008. A free press is a cornerstone of a healthy democracy. Support trusted journalism and civil dialogue. Donate now By — Jeffrey Brown Jeffrey Brown In his more than 30-year career with the News Hour, Brown has served as co-anchor, studio moderator, and field reporter on a wide range of national and international issues, with work taking him around the country and to many parts of the globe. As arts correspondent he has profiled many of the world's leading writers, musicians, actors and other artists. Among his signature works at the News Hour: a multi-year series, “Culture at Risk,” about threatened cultural heritage in the United States and abroad; the creation of the NewsHour’s online “Art Beat”; and hosting the monthly book club, “Now Read This,” a collaboration with The New York Times.
Jeffrey Brown talks with Luke Dittrich, author of “Patient H.M.,” at Washington’s Lincoln Theater. What makes you, “you”? Surely some part of the answer is your ability to form and maintain memories. A personal history of what you have done, the people you’ve known, beautiful moments and traumas — the facts, thoughts and feelings of who “you” are. Henry Molaison lost his ability to form long-term memories after part of his brain was removed in a surgical procedure, a lobotomy, in 1953. He would become one of the most studied humans in the history of brain science and help scientists come to understand how memories are formed and stored. In the new book “Patient H.M.: A Story of Memory, Madness, and Family Secrets,” Luke Dittrich tells the story of the man known to science for decades under that moniker. But Dittrich does something more, bringing together history, science and even personal memoir, because the man who performed the lobotomy on Molaison was Dittrich’s own grandfather, Dr. William Scoville. When I recently sat down to talk with Dittrich, I knew the task of capturing the full story in a short interview would be daunting. So we decided to divide the conversation into two parts. Part one, broadcast on the NewsHour, introduces Molaison, Dr. Scoville, and the incredible (and at times difficult to read and believe) tale of “psycho-surgical” procedures, a form of human experimentation performed on thousands of people from the 1930s into the 1970s. We ended that part of the conversation where we begin here, with Dittrich raising what he sees as another troubling aspect of the story: who “owns” Molaison as a study subject, who owns the story of the research, plus the dispute over access to Molaison’s brain after his death in 2008. A free press is a cornerstone of a healthy democracy. Support trusted journalism and civil dialogue. Donate now