Oliver Sacks: His Own Life

This intimate documentary tells the story of one of the most famous neuroscientists in modern history: Oliver Sacks. This is a personal story of his struggles with addiction, homophobia, and his attempts at gaining acceptance for his unconventional scientific theories. Follow him on a journey to self-discovery fraught with obstacles.

TALK 

Oliver Sacks put the patient first. His focus was on the patient’s personal story, not on the diagnosis. This N=1 method was (and is) controversial within the scientific community. Still, we can learn a lot by zooming in on one person, says neurologist Bas Bloem of Radboudumc: ‘Newton only saw one apple fall from the tree.’ Bloem, like Oliver Sacks, works a lot with Parksinson patients. After the screening of the documentary, we will talk to him about love for the profession and how researchers can learn from individual cases.