The Neuroscience of Forgotten Diseases with Jenny Dr Jenny Lange

Disease has always shaped human history, turning the tide of wars and reshaping economies and politics. 

Plague and cholera still loom large in our collective memory, but what about the diseases that simply vanished? Smallpox is the only human disease we've eradicated through vaccination. Others, like the Tudor sweating sickness, the 1518 dancing plague and the sleeping sickness that killed six million people in the early 20th century, faded from view, their causes still uncertain. Medi-Culture is bringing their stories back into the light.

Neuroscientist Dr Jenny Lange traces the history of these forgotten diseases, weighs up their possible causes, and separates fact from myth. Did they truly disappear, or simply evolve? Could sleeping sickness re-emerge in the wake of COVID-19? Join Jenny to find out how sweat, dance and dreams can kill.

About Dr Jenny Lange: A neuroscientist specialising in rare neurological disorders, Jenny completed a PhD in Neuroscience at King's College London after an early interest in psychopharmacology steered her away from clinical psychology. She's currently a senior postdoctoral fellow at the UK Dementia Research Institute, University College London.

This event is part of The London Month of the Dead.