Cytowic.net -Biographical info & news on neurologist Richard E. Cytowic
Title
Cytowic on Synesthesia/synaesthesia and the Brain
Description
Richard E. Cytowic, MD is trained in both neurology and neuropsychology. He received his BA in chemistry from Duke University, and his MD from Bowman Gray School of Medicine of Wake Forest University. He later trained at London’s National Hospital for Nervous Diseases and George Washington University before founding Capitol Neurology, a private clinic. He lives in Washington DC.
Dr. Cytowic is best known for rediscovering synesthesia in 1980 and returning it to the scientific mainstream where it is now seen as crucial to basic theories of how the brain works. Colleagues initially refused to accept the phenomenon as real and warned pursuing it would “ruin his career” because it was too “New Age” and “weird.” Today, research is underway in 15 countries and numerous doctoral theses and books have been written on the topic.
A Pulitzer nominee for his James Brady cover story, Dr. Cytowic’s writings range from textbooks and music reviews to his Love Doctor advice columns. Brief medical biographies of Anton Chekhov and Maurice Ravel typify his bridging of science and art. The New Jersey native is the son of a physician and an artist, and has himself been a Resident Fellow at the Hambidge Center and Virginia Center for Creative Arts, both Southern artist colonies.
