Agents of change

摘要: Dramatic change is often difficult to appreciate in real time. Some discoveries so irrevocably modify paradigms that the gravity of the change can only be fully appreciated much later. Examples in medicine include the germ theory and antisepsis, ether and anesthesia, immunizations, neuroimaging, and in the epilepsy world, the advent of the electroencephalogram (EEG). Yet, a curious thing happened with EEG, neurology and psychiatry actually diverged, and a distinct separation in the mindsets of the two fields became the norm. Neurologists and psychiatrists still struggle with how to divide clinical tasks, eg, neurologists only treat seizures and psychiatrists only treat behavior. However, when visionaries enter the scene, enlightened pathways forward emerge. That is the accomplishment of Dr. Steven Schachter. The creation of Epilepsy and Behavior was a bold declaration that neurology and psychiatry needed …