Norman Geschwind

Norman Geschwind (January 8, 1926 – November 4, 1984) was a pioneering American behavioral neurologist.

Early life Norman Geschwind was born on January 8, 1926, in New York City, to a Jewish family. He was a student at Boy's High School in Brooklyn, New York City. He matriculated into Harvard University in 1942, initially planning to study mathematics. His education was interrupted when drafted into the Army in 1944. After serving for two years, he returned to Harvard University in 1946. Geschwind changed to the Department of Social Relations and studied a combination of social/personality psychology and cultural anthropology. Geschwind later married and had three children, Naomi, David, and Claudia.

Medical education and training Geschwind attended Harvard Medical School, intending to become a psychiatrist. His emphasis began to shift after studying neuroanatomy with Marcus Singer, at which time he began to develop an interest in aphasia and epilepsy. He graduated medical school in 1951. Geschwind continued his studies at London's National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, as a Moseley Travelling Fellow from 1952 to 1953, then as a United States Public Health Service fellow from 1953 to 1955. He studied with Sir Charles Symonds who taught the importance of neurologic mechanisms to studying disorders.

In 1955, Geschwind became neurology chief resident at the Boston City Hospital and served under Derek Denny-Brown. From 1956 to 1958 he was a research fellow studying muscle disease at the MIT Department of Biology. Kenneth Heilman, Elliott Ross, and David N. Caplan. He actively encouraged and supported interdisciplinary research.

Geschwind would remain at Harvard Medical School until his premature death on November 4, 1984, aged 58.

Legacy Several of his trainees went on to train other neurologists in behavioral neurology, including Albert Galaburda, The Norman Geschwind-Rodin Prize is a Swedish award for research in dyslexia.

Neurological eponyms include Geschwind syndrome and the Geschwind–Galaburda hypothesis.

Geschwind's former trainees and colleagues collaborated on a book in his memory, and two of his nephews, Daniel Geschwind and Michael Geschwind, have become prominent in the field of neurology.