Awakenings

Just after the first World War, there was a great encephalitis (sleeping sickness) epidemic. Those affected were alive, but only barely so. They simply existed with no emotion, expression or humanity. The rigidity in facial expression and movement was similar to Parkinson's Disease and so these symptoms were called Parkinsonism. But in 1969 this changed. With injections of a remarkable new "awakening" drug, Laevodihydroxy-phenylalanine, or L-DOPA by Dr. Oliver Sacks, these patients came alive. First published in 1973, the events in this book are still riveting to scientists as well as others who are interested in the workings of the brain.