Patient H.M.: A Story of Memory, Madness, and Family Secrets

This review originally appeared on my blog at www.gimmethatbook.com.

Many thanks to NetGalley for this ARC.

This book is more than a memoir; more than an expose of the lobotomy trade; more than a poignant tale of a man whose life was largely lived in the present moment. It’s an unsettling view of a medical procedure touted as something to make willful women “compliant” and violent men “placid”. The imagery of the procedure itself is even more eerie – the author describes the hippocampus as “being sucked up” by the vacuum used to perform the surgery. Implements such as a trephine drill, a scalpel, and forceps are used to obliterate parts of the brain responsible for making each of us human. Patients vomit or sing during show more the surgery, their brain sending out chaotic impulses. Afterwards, they are a shell of their former self, sometimes mute, dull, or forgetful.

Patient H.M. was the most intensively studied lobotomy “victim”, and his journey from epileptic to amnesiac is well chronicled here. Adding to the drama is that the grandfather of the author (Dr William Scofield) is the surgeon that operated on H.M.

There is backstabbing and intrigue within the medical community as well; one of H.M.’s fiercest protectors, neuroscientist Suzanne Corkin, may have destroyed much of her written notes on H.M., thereby casting a shadow over how much of her research was actually correct and reliable. It is mind boggling to learn about the amount of “experimentation” done on men and women, all in the name of advancing scientific knowledge. Consent at times was dubious, even after the Nuremberg Trials. The doctors thought they were doing the best for these patients, but as the author puts it, their hubris and audacity changed lives not always for the better.

Towards the end of the book, there is a section on H.M.’s actual thoughts on himself and his memory. He tries to put a positive spin on things, noting that always living in the present makes things interesting. I suppose you can’t miss what you never had; but I also was very deeply touched by the portrayal of this man who underwent a lobotomy because he was desperate to end his constant seizures. Was the quality of his life made better by suctioning out parts of his brain? That’s the gist of PATIENT H.M. – there are uncomfortable questions and sometimes dubious answers that make sense at times, but in actuality heinous, unspeakable deeds were committed against innocent people.

The author does a wonderful job of forcing the reader to consider these broken people as tragic creatures, unknowing fodder (sometimes referred to as “material”) for the surgeons who were all eager to try out this new and groundbreaking procedure.

Also broken are the main characters: the surgeon Scoville, the neuroscientist Corkin, and the brain researcher Jacopo Annese, who took possession of H.M.’s brain after the famous amnesiac died. After live streaming the dissection of the brain, there followed a volatile custody battle between Corkin and Annese over who was the “real” owner of the organ. Everyone wanted a piece of H.M. , either in life or death – and akin to Henrietta Lacks, he was never truly compensated for it.

I dare you to read this book and not be moved. PATIENT H.M. is educational, thrilling, and serves as a reminder of just how far medical science has come – and the depths it has gone to in order to reach this point. show less

Patient H.M.: A Story of Memory, Madness, and Family Secrets by Luke Dittrich is a very highly recommended account of his grandfather, Dr. William Beecher Scoville, an early brain surgeon, and his most famous patient, Henry Molaison. If you were mesmerized by The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, you won't want to miss Patient H.M.: A Story of Memory, Madness, and Family Secrets by Luke Dittrich.

Investigative journalist Luke Dittrich covers not only the story of Henry Molaison, an epileptic man who is considered one of the most important neuroscience human research subjects; he also explores the history of neurosurgery and lobotomies, and his own family history. Along the way ethical questions are raised regarding the show more treatment of Henry, famously only known as Patient H.M. for years, and how proprietorial researchers are on sharing information.

Henry and his family agreed to brain surgery in order to stop the debilitating epileptic seizures he was having. While it did stop the seizures, it also causes short term amnesia. Henry could no longer remember any new information or form any new long term memories. After this he became Patient H.M., one of the most studied individuals over a span of decades, but also one whose identity was closely guarded.

Dittrich takes the facts of Patient H. M. and early neurosurgery and makes the story personal. His grandfather was a pioneer in the field and the one to perform the surgery on Henry, but Dittrich also tells of his mentally-ill grandmother, and a family secret. In Patient H.M. the author takes an extremely interesting piece of history and makes it even more compelling because of the personal connection Dittrich has to it, while describing the limbo Henry found himself in, with no ties to recent memories.

The writing is very good and this nonfiction account reads like a novel. I was immersed in Dittrick's family history, as well as the story of Henry himself and the history of neurosurgery. The legal fights over Henry's body and the ending was, well, stunning. You have to read this book which is sure to be in the top nonfiction of the year.

Disclosure: My advanced reading copy was courtesy of the publisher for review purposes.

http://shetreadssoftly.blogspot.com/2016/08/patient-hm.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1723726347 show less

The appeal of this book reaches far beyond learning about patient H.M., though his story is indeed a fascinating centerpiece. The author's grandfather is the doctor who performed H.M.'s lobotomy, along with countless more lobotomies on patients who were not all willing participants in this experimental surgery.

This book is part memoir, as the author takes us into his own family history, with his grandmother's mental illness and his grandfather's myopic view of lobotomies as the treatment of choice for a wide variety of psychological and behavioral problems. We also learn about the politics of medical research, about the in-fighting and the proprietary treatment of a human as a research object. We see how loosely mental illness was show more defined in a time not so long ago, when women were expected to be compliant and subservient, and defiant children were locked away. And, of course, we learn about patient H.M., a man who lost the ability to retain any sort of memory after part of his brain was taken away.

Luke Dittrich does jump around a bit in the timeline, veering down paths with family memories in order to give us a clear understanding of the people and the time in history. I had no problem following his lead, though on occasion, particularly through the middle third of the book, it felt a little disjointed. Still, the information is well worth the effort to follow along.

The stories within this book bring with them the question of free will and freedom of choice. Should doctors and psychiatrists be allowed to surgically alter a mentally ill person, and who decides the parameters of those mental illnesses treated with such a permanent method? I personally was appalled by the freedom with which these doctors performed lobotomies, as well as the lack of oversight. Perhaps even more disturbing is the absence of regard for these patients as humans with rights. These people seemed to be nothing more than test subjects, and when a doctor screwed up and caused more damage to their brains, this was just a learning curve for the greater good.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of our medical and psychiatric health care system.

*I was provided with an advance ebook copy by the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.* show less

The term "scope creep" may as well have been invented for this book. The core concept is fascinating: Luke Dittrich, the grandson of Dr. William Scoville, the neurosurgeon who performed the temporal lobotomy on patient H.M., who inspired the movie Memento writes a book about all of that. The problem seems to be that Dittrich couldn't decide which book to write.

Therefore, he includes fascinating bits like the admission of his own grandmother -- Scoville's wife -- to the inpatient psychiatric facility were Scoville performed lobotomies. He departs into memoir at times. He explores the entire history of frontal lobotomy (at some length) and digresses into this history of psychiatry. These subjects come with no form of organization and many show more of them don't really reach a satisfying conclusion as they get discarded for something else. I found myself anxious to finish but disinterested in actually picking up the book. Frustratingly, Dittrich concludes the book with a brief synopsis of the ways that H.M.'s brain was anatomically different than expected -- a fascinating topic that he left basically untouched.

Also, usually an author's closeness to a subject makes it an ideal topic, but in this case I felt very uncomfortable with Dittrich's relationships to the scientists in this story. He is profoundly unhappy with his grandfather's work, calling his surgery on H.M. unforgivable and rash despite quoting experts who disagree. I think that there's a lot more nuance to performing a surgery on a patient with intractable epilepsy before the invention of modern antiepileptics. Similarly, Dittrich's mother's best friend, the psychiatrist who had scientific custody of H.M. in his later life, is painted as a territorial and vindictive villain.

The parts that are there, that are reflective and that are relevant are fascinating. So, three stars for content and concept. show less

The story of Patient H.M., Henry Molaison, is so incredibly fascinating it is nearly impossible to put down. The author, Luke Dittrich, does a wonderful job providing comprehensive historical context as he takes you through Henry's life, death, and post-mortem existence. Dittrich weaves together the equally fascinating lives and histories of all the significant figures around Patient H.M., of particular note William Beecher Scoville (the author's grandfather, and the doctor who conducted the lobotomy of Henry's brain), and Suzanne Corkin (the doctor who took over Henry's case, and conducted five decades of research on him).

Patient H.M. was the singularly most studied research subject in history. His brain, and what researchers learned show more from it, have laid the foundation and fundamental understanding of what we know about how the brain, especially memory, works today. Thanks to Dittrich, those of us outside the medical and psychological community can also appreciate the contribution Henry Molaison made to science. show less

Patient H.M. – Luke Dittrich

In 1953, Henry Molaison (patient H.M. of the title) underwent a lobotomy in an attempt to cure debilitating epilepsy. The operation, from Molaison’s point of view, was unsuccessful. He continued to suffer from seizures and, became an amnesiac, unable to develop new memories post-surgery. Molaison’s tragedy became science’s boon. Patient H.M. became the most studied subject in this history of neuroscience.

Patient H.M. has been touted as the next The Immortal Life of Henritta Lacks (because every book has to be the “next” something). And, there are certainly aspects of Rebecca Skloot’s fabulous book here. Like Henrietta Lacks, there are many ethical and medical concerns about the consent and show more treatment of Henry Molaison and his tissues post-mortem. And, like Henrietta Lacks, many scientific breakthroughs occurred thanks to a single patient. Skloot’s book about Lacks alternates between the science advancing thanks to HeLa cells and the story of Ms. Lacks herself and her family’s fight to preserve her dignity. Dittrich’s format, on the other hand, is much more disjointed and disorganized.

Dittrich’s hook is that he is the grandson of William Scoville, the surgeon who performed the lobotomy that left Henry Molaison without the ability to form new memories. Dittrich touches on many things here: the history of neuroscience and psychosurgery; his grandfather’s career; his grandmother’s mental illness and the life and times of the scientists that made their mark by studying Mr. Molaison.; and ultimately, post-mortem discoveries that may explain the particular plight of Mr. Molaison. While this book is chock-full of interesting information and stories, there are almost too many threads to keep the narrative on task. And, while this is a non-fiction book that clearly required a great deal of research, the finished product lacks clear citation and drifts often into what seems to be more personal narrative than journalistic reporting.

In spite of its flaws, this was an entertaining and educational book about both the author’s family and the history of brain science. Worthwhile reading for anyone interested in medical or scientific subjects or non-fiction readers. show less

At the age of seven young Henry Molaison stepped into the street and collided with a bicyclist. Following the accident he began suffering from increasingly frequent and severe epileptic seizures, leading ultimately to an experimental brain surgery performed by neurosurgeon William Beecher Scoville. Unfortunately, the surgery was only partially successful with respect to his seizures and, tragically, the procedure left him unable to form any new memories for the remainder of his life. The author, journalist Luke Dittrich, just happens to be Scoville's grandson, and this is the story of the surprising number of ways his family intersects with that of the most famous patient in the history of neuroscience, as well as a primer on the show more history of the science itself.

This was an enlightening read, though it was far from a page-turner. The overall number of intersectionalities among the family, the patient, the neighborhood, and even President Lincoln, was pretty astonishing. Recommended for readers with an interest in science and medicine. show less