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The 'Awakenings' medical experiment

In the 1960s a new drug briefly woke up patients who'd been catatonic for decades with Encephalitis Lethargica or β€˜sleepy sickness’. Changing the understanding of such conditions.

In the 1920s a strange epidemic claimed the lives of around a million people. Encephalitis Lethargica or β€˜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 β€œThe Awakenings”.

(Photo: Dr Concetta Tomaino (center) with Dr Oliver Sacks (right) and patient (left). Credit: The American Music Therapy Association.)

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9 minutes

Last on

Wed 11 Dec 2019 13:50GMT

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  • Wed 11 Dec 2019 08:50GMT
  • Wed 11 Dec 2019 13:50GMT

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