Henry Molaison never knew throughout his long life that he was making an irreplaceable contribution to neuroscience. And now after his death there will be a movie to commemorate it. Columbia Pictures and Scott Rudin have picked up the rights to a forthcoming memoir about Molaison, who was known for the 45 years that Dr. Suzanne Corkin studied him only as H.M.
Molaison, after suffering seizures since a boyhood bicycle accident, had a lobotomy at age 27 that ended the seizures, but also made him completely unable to form new memories. As described in his New York Times obituary, Molaison would not remember the scientists who worked with him from day to day, but with time could improve at tasks they taught him, proof that there was some innate memory that remained in him after all.
Variety says Columbia has also picked up the rights to another book about Molaison, and plans to tell the story through Corkin's point-of-view. Given how well-read the Times obituary was, it seems maybe this is a neuroscience milestone that will have an appeal outside beyond the medical community.
