Samuel Alexander Kinnier Wilson (December 6, 1878 – May 12, 1937) was an American-born British

neurologist Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal c ...

. His research of hepatolenticular degeneration led the disease to be named after him as

Wilson's disease Wilson's disease is a genetic disorder in which excess copper builds up in the body. Symptoms are typically related to the brain and liver. Liver-related symptoms include vomiting, weakness, fluid build up in the abdomen, swelling of the legs, ...

. He was the father of British

Assyriologist Assyriology (from Greek , ''Assyriā''; and , '' -logia'') is the archaeological, anthropological, and linguistic study of Assyria and the rest of ancient Mesopotamia (a region that encompassed what is now modern Iraq, northeastern Syria, southea ...

James Kinnier Wilson James Vincent Kinnier Wilson (27 November 1921 – 22 December 2022) was a British Assyriologist. He was Eric Yarrow Lecturer, from 1955 until 1989, and Emeritus Fellow, Wolfson College, Cambridge. Life and career Kinnier Wilson was born in Maryl ...

Biography

He was born in

Cedarville, New Jersey Cedarville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Lawrence Township, in Cumberland County, New Jersey, United States. It is part of the Vineland- Millville- Bridgeton Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area f ...

. A year after Wilson's birth, his father died and his family moved to

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. In 1902 he graduated with an M.B. from the

University of Edinburgh Medical School The University of Edinburgh Medical School (also known as Edinburgh Medical School) is the medical school of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and the United Kingdom and part of the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. It was esta ...

, and during the following year he received his

B.Sc. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

. Afterwards he traveled to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, where he studied with neurologists

Pierre Marie Pierre Marie (9 September 1853 – 13 April 1940) was a French neurologist and political journalist close to the SFIO. Medical Career After finishing medical school, he served as an interne (1878), working as an assistant to neurologist Jean- ...

(1853–1940) and

Joseph Babinski Joseph Jules François Félix Babinski ( pl, Józef Julian Franciszek Feliks Babiński; 17 November 1857 – 29 October 1932) was a French-Polish professor of neurology. He is best known for his 1896 description of the Babinski sign, a pathologic ...

(1857–1932). In 1905 he relocated to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, where he worked as registrar and

pathologist Pathology is the study of the causal, causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when us ...

at the National Hospital, Queens Square. Later, he was appointed professor of neurology at

King's College Hospital King's College Hospital is a major teaching hospital and major trauma centre in Denmark Hill, Camberwell in the London Borough of Lambeth, referred to locally and by staff simply as "King's" or abbreviated internally to "KCH". It is managed by K ...

. Wilson specialized in clinical neurology, and made important contributions in his studies of

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrical ...

narcolepsy Narcolepsy is a long-term neurological disorder that involves a decreased ability to regulate sleep–wake cycles. Symptoms often include periods of excessive daytime sleepiness and brief involuntary sleep episodes. About 70% of those affec ...

apraxia Apraxia is a motor disorder caused by damage to the brain (specifically the posterior parietal cortex or corpus callosum), which causes difficulty with motor planning to perform tasks or movements. The nature of the damage determines the disorder' ...

and

speech disorders Speech disorders or speech impairments are a type of communication disorder in which normal speech is disrupted. This can mean stuttering, lisps, etc. Someone who is unable to speak due to a speech disorder is considered mute. Speech skills ar ...

. He described hepatolenticular degeneration in his Gold Medal winning M.D. dissertation of 1912 titled "Progressive lenticular degeneration" from the

. He was honored for his research of the disease, and afterwards the disorder became known as "

". From his treatise, he is credited for introducing the term " extrapyramidal" into neurological medicine. Wilson published several influential works in the field of neurology, and in 1920 was founding editor of the ''Journal of Neurology and Psychopathology'', later to become known as the ''

Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry The ''Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal published by the BMJ Group. It covers research and reviews in the fields of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry. Its Editor-in-Chief is Matthe ...

''. In 1940, his two-volume work, ''Neurology'', was published posthumously. Just before his death, Sir

Charles Sherrington Sir Charles Scott Sherrington (27 November 1857 – 4 March 1952) was an eminent English neurophysiologist. His experimental research established many aspects of contemporary neuroscience, including the concept of the spinal reflex as a system ...

(1857–1952) had been working with Dr.

Edgar Adrian Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian (30 November 1889 – 4 August 1977) was an English electrophysiologist and recipient of the 1932 Nobel Prize for Physiology, won jointly with Sir Charles Sherrington for work on the function of neurons. ...

(later Lord Adrian of Cambridge, 1889–1977) on getting him elected as a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Samuel Alexander Kinnier 1878 births 1937 deaths People from Lawrence Township, Cumberland County, New Jersey British neurologists American emigrants to Scotland Medical doctors from Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh