I heard about this back in 1971 or 1972 as an undergraduate student. In order to satisfy a general humanities requirement I took a class, 9.01 to be precise (or roughly Intro to Psychology). It turned out to be nothing like I expected. There was only one lecture (two hours) per week on thursday nights. Right away I realized that they were going to be different. The largest lecture hall at MIT (capable of holding half of the entire Freshman class) was packed. People would sit on the stairs and aisles between the fully occupied seats and the head and creator of the Psychology department Professor Hans-Lukas Teuber[1] lectured. It was like listening to the most fascinating episode of Discovery every week. He was an amazing intellect, and he lectured on brain science. During the lecture on memory, he discussed this very case and his experience of meeting this patient. He said that every time he entered the room he had to be re-introduced to the patient. But he said there were hints of the mystery of memory. He showed the patient a half-dollar with an image John F. Kennedy on it and the patient said something that indicated an awareness of JFK (assassinated in 63). He published a few papers with Brenda Milner.
As the semester passed the lecture hall filled more and more until there was finally standing room only, and the final lecture was followed by a standing ovation. It was an absolutely masterful introduction to brain science, delivered in a series of two hour lectures, without ever using notes. Professor Teuber spoke of the need to study the brain scientifically, to treat subjects and patients humanely, and the need for appropriate ethical guidelines in the field. He made me realize that everything we do, from recognizing our grandmother, scratching our back, or recalling an early romance involves fantastic processes in our brain.
After that course, I decided that I would change majors. I went to the Psychology department where (fortunately) they told me that MIT didn't offer an undergrad degree in Psychology. Math and EE/CS was where I stayed.
As the semester passed the lecture hall filled more and more until there was finally standing room only, and the final lecture was followed by a standing ovation. It was an absolutely masterful introduction to brain science, delivered in a series of two hour lectures, without ever using notes. Professor Teuber spoke of the need to study the brain scientifically, to treat subjects and patients humanely, and the need for appropriate ethical guidelines in the field. He made me realize that everything we do, from recognizing our grandmother, scratching our back, or recalling an early romance involves fantastic processes in our brain.
After that course, I decided that I would change majors. I went to the Psychology department where (fortunately) they told me that MIT didn't offer an undergrad degree in Psychology. Math and EE/CS was where I stayed.
[1] http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/m...