Book contents
- From Loss to Memory
- From Loss to Memory
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Counting Synapses
- 2 Discovering Synaptic Pruning
- 3 Else, Peter’s Mother
- 4 Richard, Peter’s Father, and Peter’s Uncle Fritz
- 5 Greiz: Kriegskinder (Children of War)
- 6 In Braubach, after the War
- 7 Arrival in America
- 8 Harvard Medical School
- 9 Understanding Sleep and Consciousness: Research at the National Institutes of Health
- 10 Entering the Cognitive Revolution: Neuroscience and Cognitive Psychology
- 11 Physician First, Scientist Second?
- 12 Comparative Brain Regions and Synapse Formation
- 13 Stimulating Progress on Developmental Brain Disorders
- 14 Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Schizophrenia: A Role for Synaptic Pruning?
- 15 Early Childhood Education
- 16 Peter and Janellen’s Collaboration
- 17 Microglial Cells and the Mechanisms of Synaptic Pruning
- 18 Looking Forward: Being a Physician and a Scientist
- 19 Parkinson’s Disease and Berlin
- 20 Auf Deutsch: Back to German
- 21 Memories and Reflections at the End: A Return Trip to Greiz
- Glossary
- Index
20 - Auf Deutsch: Back to German
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 October 2023
- From Loss to Memory
- From Loss to Memory
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Counting Synapses
- 2 Discovering Synaptic Pruning
- 3 Else, Peter’s Mother
- 4 Richard, Peter’s Father, and Peter’s Uncle Fritz
- 5 Greiz: Kriegskinder (Children of War)
- 6 In Braubach, after the War
- 7 Arrival in America
- 8 Harvard Medical School
- 9 Understanding Sleep and Consciousness: Research at the National Institutes of Health
- 10 Entering the Cognitive Revolution: Neuroscience and Cognitive Psychology
- 11 Physician First, Scientist Second?
- 12 Comparative Brain Regions and Synapse Formation
- 13 Stimulating Progress on Developmental Brain Disorders
- 14 Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Schizophrenia: A Role for Synaptic Pruning?
- 15 Early Childhood Education
- 16 Peter and Janellen’s Collaboration
- 17 Microglial Cells and the Mechanisms of Synaptic Pruning
- 18 Looking Forward: Being a Physician and a Scientist
- 19 Parkinson’s Disease and Berlin
- 20 Auf Deutsch: Back to German
- 21 Memories and Reflections at the End: A Return Trip to Greiz
- Glossary
- Index
Summary
In the later stages of Parkinson’s disease most patients develop progressive cognitive impairment and dementia. During his final year, Peter often spoke in German. He alternated between disorientation and lucidity. During his disoriented periods, he wandered. At night he would scream out in terror. It became clear that he needed round-the-clock care and, after much hesitation, his family all decided that he needed to live in the care facility connected to Peter and Janellen’s retirement community. The iron grip of Parkinson’s disease is difficult for families. It is a confusing kind of dementia, the periods of lucidity raising hopes that are repeatedly dashed. Peter was locked in during those last months. It was not always clear he recognized his friends or family members, but sometimes he made so much sense! “Ich bin müde” (I am tired) or “genug” (enough), he said.
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- From Loss to MemoryBehind the Discovery of Synaptic Pruning, pp. 126 - 128Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023