Main description:

The scientific work of Walther Birkmayer is grounded on his ability to turn what was often a mass of clinical details into the basis for a hypothesis for a new therapeutic approach toward solving the problems of a patient's illness. Birkmayer first became known when, during the Second World War, he built up a clinic for brain injuries in Vienna, in which over 3000 patients were treated. The study of changes in the autonomic functions of the nervous system in these patients as well as the problems of rehabilitation were published in a monograph, "Hirn- verletzungen". Consequently, this was his major scientific interest during the post-war years. His book, "Klinik und Therapie der vegetativen Funktionsstorungen" published with W. Winkler, brought Birkmayer recognition in the German-speaking world. In 1954 he took over the Neurological Department of the Geriatric Hospital of Vienna in Lainz, where he remained until his retirement in 1975. International acclaim followed his breakthrough with the clinical application of L-DOPA in Parkinson's disease.
Birkmayer, as a strong adherent to the scientific interpretation of neurological and psychiatric disease, has encouraged multidisciplinary research. This is reflected in his establishment of the former Ludwig Boltzmann- Institute of Neurochemistry, in which pharmacological, biochemical and histopathological research into neuropsychiatric diseases was performed under one roof. Further to his initial work on L-DOPA, Birkmayer has been in the forefront of supplementary parkinsonian therapy using enzyme inhibitors: benserazide in 1967, unselective monoamine oxidase inhibitors in 1962 and deprenyl in 1975.

Contents:

Parkinson's Disease: Unanswered Questions.- Blood Platelets as Models for Neurons: Uses and Limitations.- Changing Concepts of Nigral Dopamine System Function Within the Basal Ganglia: Relevance to Extrapyramidal Disorders.- An Autoradiographic Study of the Striatofugal Fibers in the Monkey.- Kinetics of L-DOPA Metabolism in the Caudate Nucleus of Cats with Ventrotegmental Lesions.- Spiro- peridol Binding in the Human Caudate Nucleus.- Quantitative Dissection of Human Brain Areas: Relevance to Transmitter Analyses.- On the Mechanism of the Antiparkinsonian Action of 1-DOPA and Bromocriptine: A Theoretical and Experimental Analysis of Dopamine Receptor Sub- and Super- sensitivity.- Contributions of ?- Adrenoreceptor Blockade to Extrapyramidal Effects of Neuroleptic Drugs.- The Decarboxylation of DOPA in the Parkinsonian Brain: In vivo Studies on an Animal Model.- Metabolic Alterations in an Animal Model of Huntington's Disease Using the 14C- Deoxyglucose Method.- Progressive Supranuclear Palsy: Clinico-Pathological and Biochemical Studies.- Clinical Analysis of Akinesia.- Akinetic Freezing and Trick Movements in Parkinson's Disease.- Distribution and Metabolism of the Potential Anti-Parkinson Drug Memantine in the Human.- Long-Term Responses of Parkinson's Disease to Levodopa Therapy.- Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors as Anti-Depressant Drugs and as Adjunct to L-Dopa Therapy of Parkinson's Disease.- Dopamine Oxidation and Its Inhibition by (-)-Deprenyl in Man.- Dopamine Metabolism in Human Brain: Effects of Monoamine Oxidase Inhibition in vitro by (-)Deprenyl and (+) and (-)Tranylcypromine.- Unilateral Parkinson's Disease and Contralateral Tardive Dyskinesia: A Unique Case with Successful Therapy That May Explain the Pathophysiology of These Two Disorders.- Lecithin in Parkinson's Disease.- Is the Neurosurgical Treatment of Parkinson's Disease Still Indicated?.- Benign and Malignant Types of Parkinson's Disease: Clinical and Patho-Physiological Characterization.- Theoretical and Clinical Aspects of the Tourette Syndrome (Chronic Multiple Tic).- The Neuropathology of GABA Neurons in Extrapyramidal Disorders.- The Potential of GABA Mimetics in the Therapy of Extrapyramidal Disorders.