#6: Lone Frank – Robert Heath, the forgotten inventor of Deep Brain Stimulation

In this episode, Lone Frank shares insight about her book “The Pleasure Shock: The Rise of Deep Brain Stimulation and Its Forgotten Inventor” in which she delved into the academic life of a true pioneer of our field. Robert Heath invented deep brain stimulation in the 1950ies and was a remarkable pioneer of our field. Lone’s book takes us on a trip delving deep into the discoveries – but also controversies around Heath and his contemporaries, such as José Delgado and Frank Ervin.

References we talked about in the episode

Further reading

Colleagues mentioned in the episode include

  • Max Lapham (Dean of the Medical School in Tulane at the time of Heath’s recruitment)
  • José Delgado (Neurosurgeon at Yale)
  • Alim-Louis Benabid (Neurosurgeon in Grenoble)
  • Pierre Pollak (Neurologist in Grenoble / Bern) – see episode #4 with Pierre
  • Frank Ervin (Psychiatrist)
  • Francisco Garcia (Neurosurgeon at Tulane)
  • Helen Mayberg (Neurologist at Mt. Sinai, NYC) – see episode #2 with Helen
  • António Egas Moniz (surgical Neurologist in Portugal)
  • James Olds (Psychologist at McGill U, Canada)
  • Peter Milner (Psychologist at McGill U, Canada)
  • Daniel Freedman (Psychiatrist in Chicago)
  • Alan Lipton (Psychiatrist in Miami)
  • Robert Heath Jr. (Biologist, Heath’s son)
  • Andres Lozano (Neurosurgeon in Toronto)
  • Rick Schuurman (Neurosurgeon in Amsterdam)
  • Thomas Schlaepfer (Psychiatrist in Freiburg)
  • Volker Coenen (Neurosurgeon in Freiburg)
  • Michael Okun (Neurologist in Gainesville, Florida)
  • Kelly Foote (Neurosurgeon in Gainesville, Florida)
  • Marwan Hariz (Neurosurgeon in Umeå, Sweden) – see episode #3 with Marwan
  • Alik Widge (Psychiatrist in Minneapolis)
  • Darin Dougherty (Pychiatrist in Boston)
  • Don Gallant (Neuroscientist in Tulane)
  • David Merrick (Patient operated by Heath)
  • Günther Deuschl (Neurologist in Kiel) – see episode #5 with Günther
  • Pernille Rose Grønkjær (Film Directory, see above)
  • Wallace Tomlinson (Psychiatrist at Tulane)