Are you Related to “the Geschwind?”

Abstract

Being a neurologist with the last name Geschwind can be daunting....So, when I was asked to write a biography of Norman Geschwind, my father’s cousin, I was very hesitant about what to write. Numerous biographies and articles have been written about him and his remarkable contributions to the field of neurobehavior and neurology; most are written by those trained by him and who knew his work personally and far better than I could ever know it. I decided to focus on a more personal story about how I was affected and continue to be influenced by Norman’s legacy. Growing up I knew my father’s cousin Norman was a physician, but I must admit, as a child I thought he was a family doctor—I don’t even think I knew what a neurologist was at the time. My primary memory of him was as a great raconteur; I recall him sitting back and telling stories at my Aunt Shirley’s dining room table during one of the Jewish Holidays, but I had no clue about his contributions to the field of neurobehavior and neurology. During a psychology course sophomore year in college, I kept coming across the name Norman Geschwind in my textbooks; I called up my father to inquire if this person was the same as “our cousin Norman.” I was fascinated by his work in brain behavior relationships and cerebral lateralization. I was amazed to find that this was my cousin Norman. I started to read more of his writings. Although a solid-state experimental physicist, my father became fascinated by neuroscience in large part through the writings of his cousin; we would spend hours discussing Norman’s papers on brain localization, function and behavior. Although I started out as a physics major, I eventually changed my major to neurobiology as I became increasingly drawn to studying the role of the brain in human behavior and function. I was home from college and had just had a conversation with my father about Norman’s writings when we received the phone call from Pat, Norman’s wife, about his sudden and tragic death. In addition to the tragedy of the loss of a family member, leaving behind his wife and three children, I also realized what a great loss his death would be to the medical community, particularly the field of neurobehavior. Influenced in some part by Norman’s writings, I ended up majoring in neurobiology and writing my senior thesis on cerebral lateralization. Although I left science for several years to explore other fields, despite my attempts to not go into science/medicine, I eventually realized it was the career I would enjoy most and ended up pursuing my MD-PhD in neuroscience and becoming a neurologist. Curiously, my older brother Dan, had a not too dissimilar path. After trying out business Norman Geschwind. Photograph from Damasio and Galaburda Archives of Neurology 1985.