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Biomedical subjects

C Miller Fisher

Publications and source records attributed to C Miller Fisher.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

The reach of neurology.

Neurologists experienced in the interpretation of disease in terms of disordered action of the nervous system should be well suited to extend their field of interest to the more complex disorders of human behavior, including hysteria, delirium, ill-defined pain syndromes, unexplained fatigue, disorders of thought, atypical depression, and delusions. To illustrate the potential of neurology in approaching the more complex disorders of behavior, several examples from clinical neurology are presented in which phenomena calling for inquiry and analysis in neurological terms are described. The categories are temporal lobe epilepsy, delirium, drug toxicity, disease processes of the cerebrum, obscure pain, dyslexia, and hysteria. Inquiry into complex disorders of behavior is inseparable from the broad subject of normal mental activity, the neural organization subserving all human thought, emotion, and action. Because of this close association, the comment on hysteria includes an introduction to the important question of whether we humans possess a free will to choose our course of behavior.

Adult↗

Unexplained sudden amnesia.

BACKGROUND: In almost all cases of acute, sudden, persistent amnesia, the cause can be determined. Ischemic stroke, hypoglycemia, syncope, and seizure are the most likely causes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In a clinical study, 2 elderly men are described in which sudden, permanent amnesia developed in the absence of a satisfactory explanation. In 1 case, a neuropathologic study disclosed Alzheimer disease; in the other, magnetic resonance imaging showed a temporal lobe abnormality bilaterally. RESULTS: A man aged 80 years suddenly lost his memory of the previous 60 years. Neuropathologic study 5 years later showed the changes of Alzheimer disease. In the second case a disabling amnesia developed overnight in a man aged 70 years. There was no progression of the disabling amnesia in the next 15 years. Magnetic resonance imaging 10 years from the onset showed abnormality of the medial temporal lobe bilaterally. CONCLUSIONS: In neither case was the amnesia satisfactorily explained. It is likely that rare cases of amnesia occur as the result of an unrecognized pathophysiologic process.

Acute Disease↗