- Email: [email protected]
Christian Grefkes
In Context
Focal point Taking a pop at Parkinson Although best known for describing the condition paralysis agitans, later to be known as Parkinson’s disease, in the 1817 report An Essay on the Shaking Palsy,1 James Parkinson (1755–1824) left his mark on English history in many other ways. In fact, Parkinson was quite the polymath, whose interests included natural sciences, geology, and palaeontology. He was also a leading campaigner for social and political reform, a passion that would embroil him in a plot to commit regicide. Parkinson lived during the troubled reign of King George III (1760–1820), notable for the King’s bouts of mental illness and wars with France and the American colonies sanctioned by an unpopular and elitist Tory government led by Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger. High taxation to fund these military campaigns and lack of parliamentary representation for an increasing urbanised populace contributed to great social division and impoverishment. Parkinson, as a fervent detractor of the government and champion of the disenfranchised, published many pamphlets, under the pseudonym Old Hubert, calling for parliamentary reform and universal suffrage; he was also a prominent member of several clandestine reformist groups, including the London Corresponding Society (LCS).3,4 At the time, such activities could lead to imprisonment without trial. In 1794, five members of the LCS were implicated in a sham conspiracy, fabricated by government agents, to overthrow the government by assassinating the King with a poisoned dart fired from an air rifle (popularly known as the Pop-Gun Plot). Although never directly accused, Parkinson was called as a defence witness in the subsequent Privy Council investigations and the ensuing trial, during which he was compelled on oath to reveal himself to be Old Hubert.2,3 The so-called conspirators were eventually all freed and Parkinson was not prosecuted for his testimony. However, following this experience, and with further curbs on free speech, he focused his energies back on medicine, particularly public and mental health, leading to the observations for which he would come to be best known.
Steven Goodrick 1 2 3 4
Parkinson J. An essay on the shaking palsy. London: Whittingham and Rowland, 1817. James Parkinson. http://www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/392. html (accessed Dec 30, 2013). Dr James Parkinson. http://www.allaboutparkinsons.com/jamesparkinson.html (accessed Dec 30, 2013). Burch D, Sheerin F. Parkinson’s disease. Lancet 2005; 365: 622–27.
www.thelancet.com/neurology Vol 13 February 2014
Lifeline Christian Grefkes is a clinical neurologist with special interests in motor neuroscience and stroke recovery. After graduating in 2004 from the University of Düsseldorf, Germany, he received his clinical training at the neurology departments of the universities of Aachen and Cologne. Since 2007, he has been head of the Max Planck research group on neuromodulation and neurorehabilitation, and in 2013, he was appointed as Professor for Stroke and Neurorehabilitation at the University of Cologne. His projects deal with network models of stroke, individual prediction of the potential to recover using machine-learning algorithms, and non-invasive modulation of reorganising networks. What has been the greatest achievement of your career? Having my own junior research group—this allows me to pursue my own ideas, which is absolutely great.
See Review page 206
What inspired you? Apart from all the excitement that science offers, the most important source of inspiration is clinical practice—to understand what a stroke does to the brain and why some patients recover better than others. If you had not entered your current profession, what would you have liked to do? When I was a little boy in kindergarten we had to draw a picture of what job we would like to do, and I drew a stethoscope, so there was no question I would do anything else other than become a doctor. Who was your most influential teacher, and why? Apart from my scientific mentors Gereon Fink and Karl Zilles, my most influential teacher in my personal life was my high-school music teacher, Ms Elisabeth Bette, who taught me to understand Bach, Beethoven, and Wagner— the logic and beauty of their music are my major source of recreation from science and clinics. What would be your advice to a newly qualified doctor? Per aspera ad astra (through hardships to the stars). But never lose your enthusiasm whatever you do and whatever you experience. What items do you always carry with you? My beloved iPhone—I can’t imagine a time without permanent access to emails, text messages, and all these useful apps. In which other country would you like to live and why? Australia—it’s a mixture of Europe and America, absolutely great…if only it wasn’t on the other side of world! What was your first experiment as a child? To be honest, I was quite a boring child who was not very interested in science. Do you believe in ghosts? Only ghosts in certain MRI sequences (eg, echo planar imaging ghost artifacts).
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Focal point Taking a pop at Parkinson Although best known for describing the condition paralysis agitans, later to be known as Parkinson’s disease, in the 1817 report An Essay on the Shaking Palsy,1 James Parkinson (1755–1824) left his mark on English history in many other ways. In fact, Parkinson was quite the polymath, whose interests included natural sciences, geology, and palaeontology. He was also a leading campaigner for social and political reform, a passion that would embroil him in a plot to commit regicide. Parkinson lived during the troubled reign of King George III (1760–1820), notable for the King’s bouts of mental illness and wars with France and the American colonies sanctioned by an unpopular and elitist Tory government led by Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger. High taxation to fund these military campaigns and lack of parliamentary representation for an increasing urbanised populace contributed to great social division and impoverishment. Parkinson, as a fervent detractor of the government and champion of the disenfranchised, published many pamphlets, under the pseudonym Old Hubert, calling for parliamentary reform and universal suffrage; he was also a prominent member of several clandestine reformist groups, including the London Corresponding Society (LCS).3,4 At the time, such activities could lead to imprisonment without trial. In 1794, five members of the LCS were implicated in a sham conspiracy, fabricated by government agents, to overthrow the government by assassinating the King with a poisoned dart fired from an air rifle (popularly known as the Pop-Gun Plot). Although never directly accused, Parkinson was called as a defence witness in the subsequent Privy Council investigations and the ensuing trial, during which he was compelled on oath to reveal himself to be Old Hubert.2,3 The so-called conspirators were eventually all freed and Parkinson was not prosecuted for his testimony. However, following this experience, and with further curbs on free speech, he focused his energies back on medicine, particularly public and mental health, leading to the observations for which he would come to be best known.
Steven Goodrick 1 2 3 4
Parkinson J. An essay on the shaking palsy. London: Whittingham and Rowland, 1817. James Parkinson. http://www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/392. html (accessed Dec 30, 2013). Dr James Parkinson. http://www.allaboutparkinsons.com/jamesparkinson.html (accessed Dec 30, 2013). Burch D, Sheerin F. Parkinson’s disease. Lancet 2005; 365: 622–27.
www.thelancet.com/neurology Vol 13 February 2014
Lifeline Christian Grefkes is a clinical neurologist with special interests in motor neuroscience and stroke recovery. After graduating in 2004 from the University of Düsseldorf, Germany, he received his clinical training at the neurology departments of the universities of Aachen and Cologne. Since 2007, he has been head of the Max Planck research group on neuromodulation and neurorehabilitation, and in 2013, he was appointed as Professor for Stroke and Neurorehabilitation at the University of Cologne. His projects deal with network models of stroke, individual prediction of the potential to recover using machine-learning algorithms, and non-invasive modulation of reorganising networks. What has been the greatest achievement of your career? Having my own junior research group—this allows me to pursue my own ideas, which is absolutely great.
See Review page 206
What inspired you? Apart from all the excitement that science offers, the most important source of inspiration is clinical practice—to understand what a stroke does to the brain and why some patients recover better than others. If you had not entered your current profession, what would you have liked to do? When I was a little boy in kindergarten we had to draw a picture of what job we would like to do, and I drew a stethoscope, so there was no question I would do anything else other than become a doctor. Who was your most influential teacher, and why? Apart from my scientific mentors Gereon Fink and Karl Zilles, my most influential teacher in my personal life was my high-school music teacher, Ms Elisabeth Bette, who taught me to understand Bach, Beethoven, and Wagner— the logic and beauty of their music are my major source of recreation from science and clinics. What would be your advice to a newly qualified doctor? Per aspera ad astra (through hardships to the stars). But never lose your enthusiasm whatever you do and whatever you experience. What items do you always carry with you? My beloved iPhone—I can’t imagine a time without permanent access to emails, text messages, and all these useful apps. In which other country would you like to live and why? Australia—it’s a mixture of Europe and America, absolutely great…if only it wasn’t on the other side of world! What was your first experiment as a child? To be honest, I was quite a boring child who was not very interested in science. Do you believe in ghosts? Only ghosts in certain MRI sequences (eg, echo planar imaging ghost artifacts).
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