The 'Awakenings' medical experiment

Available for over a year

In the 1920s a strange epidemic claimed the lives of around a million people. Encephalitis Lethargica or ‘sleepy sickness’ left nearly four million more in what seemed to be a catatonic state for decades - unable to speak or move independently, as if asleep. In the late 1960s British neurologist, Oliver Sacks, tried a new drug that was being used for Parkinson’s disease and brought some patients briefly back to consciousness. What he learned changed our understanding of such neurological conditions and revolutionised patient care. Rebecca Kesby has been speaking to leading music therapist, Concetta Tomaino, who worked with Dr Sacks and his patients, in the experiment that became known as “The Awakenings”. (Photo: Dr Concetta Tomaino (center) with Dr Oliver Sacks (right) and patient (left). Credit: The American Music Therapy Association.)