Penfield, Wilder Graves (1891-1976), was a Canadian neuroscientist and physician who developed a surgical cure for some forms of epilepsy. In these forms of the disease, epileptic seizures originate in small clusters of damaged brain cells. Penfield developed techniques for locating damaged brain cells and removing them surgically.
Penfield also mapped the areas of the brain that control various bodily activities. He showed that the brain’s control of such activities as speech and memory is temporarily stopped when electric currents are applied to certain parts of the brain. In this way, Penfield located a speech area of the brain in the rear of the left half of the cerebrum. He also discovered that electric stimulation of the temporal lobe, a part of the cerebrum, activated memories of earlier experiences. He concluded that some memory is stored in the temporal lobe.
Penfield was born on Jan. 26, 1891, in Spokane, Washington. He graduated from Oxford University in 1916 and received his M.D. degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1918. Penfield became a Canadian citizen in 1934. That year, he founded the Montreal Neurological Institute, which he directed until his retirement in 1960. Penfield died on April 5, 1976.
