William Bleckwenn

William Jefferson Bleckwenn (July 23, 1895 – January 6, 1965) was an American neurologist, psychiatrist, and military physician, who was instrumental in developing the treatment known as "narcoanalysis" or "narcosynthesis", also known by the lay term "truth serum".

Early years and education

Bleckwenn was born in Astoria, Queens, New York City, in 1895. He received his elementary and secondary education there in public city schools, graduating from high school at the top of his class.Clark PF: ''The University of Wisconsin Medical School: A Chronicle, 1848-1948''. Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin Press, 1967; pp. 124-134. He then enrolled at the University of Wisconsin in 1913, earning a B.S.- Med. degree in 1917 as part of an accelerated medical course of study. As an undergraduate, Bleckwenn was an accomplished athlete in track & field, especially in the hammer throw. Bleckwenn enrolled at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He received his M.D. from that institution in 1920. Bleckwenn then pursued residency training at Bellevue Hospital in New York and at the Wisconsin Psychiatric Institute (WPI) in Madison. At WPI, he came under the tutelage of William Lorenz and Hans Reese.

Career in neurology and psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin

Upon completion of his training, Bleckwenn was asked to join Lorenz and Reese on the staff of WPI, which had by then become part of the UW Department of Neuropsychiatry. He quickly acquired skill as an administrator and researcher, becoming assistant director of the institute in the late 1920s. Around that time, Bleckwenn also began investigational studies on the use of barbiturates to treat catatonic mutism, a particularly disabling form of schizophrenia. He and Lorenz found that intravenous sodium amytal (amobarbital) was effective in producing a "lucid interval," wherein catatonic patients could converse normally, respond to questions appropriately, move about nimbly, and provide information about their thought processes and backgrounds that would otherwise have been impossible to obtain. The latter benefit of the treatment was given the names "narcoanalysis" or "narcosynthesis." In a short time, the amytal-induced "lucid interval" became a proof-positive test for the diagnosis of catatonia.

Bleckwenn published his findings on this topic in 1930, in landmark papers in the ''Wisconsin Medical Journal;'' the ''Journal of the American Medical Association'' (JAMA), and ''Archives of Neurology & Psychiatry,'' In the JAMA paper, he stated that "''the catatonic patient has shown some extremely interesting and striking responses'' o intravenous amytal ''Periods of from four to fourteen hours of a normal lucid interval have been a constant result of the treatment.''" Bleckwenn was forward-thinking regarding the documentation of these effects, making motion pictures of the process. Of those, Fink says ''"His silent films show the patients as mute, posturing, rigid, with heads raised fixedly from the pillow, and then responding dramatically to multigram doses of amobarbital. The films were convincing, and amobarbital was quickly and widely used to obtain clinical histories and to allow feeding and self-care."'' Psychiatrists across the world became enthused by sodium amytal therapy. In his text entitled "''A Historical Dictionary of Psychiatry,''" Shorter states that ''"Some observers view Bleckwenn's procedure as the real beginning of psychopharmacology."''

As an extension of his work on barbiturate therapy, Bleckwenn and Mabel Masten also studied the reversal of overdosage by amobarbital in the mid-1930s. They found that dilute intravenous solutions of picrotoxin (cocculin)-- a neurostimulatory plant product—were effective as an antidote in that setting. However, over time, the narrow therapeutic window associated with picrotoxin administration—which can also induce seizures—resulted in its disuse.

Military service in World War II

Bleckwenn had enlisted in the Wisconsin Army National Guard as a medical student, and had remained in the Reserve Medical Corps after completing his medical degree. He took part in the U.S. Army training maneuvers in 1940 and 1941 in central Louisiana (the "Louisiana Maneuvers") under the command of Lt. Gen. Stanley Embrick, which were undertaken because of the imminence of U.S. involvement in World War II. In 1941, Bleckwenn was called to active duty and attached to the 135th medical regiment. That unit operated as part of the U.S. Sixth Army and was tasked with management of frontline casualties. After the United States entered the war, the 135th shipped out to the Pacific Theater of Operations in March 1942. Bleckwenn was its commanding officer, with the rank of colonel (O6). The 135th saw action in New Guinea, Tarawa

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