Architecture of Neurology: Establishment of the Montreal Neurological Institute as a Transnational History.

Abstract

The Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) is often framed as a triumph of North American medical innovation, an institution converging research, clinical care, and neurosurgery under the leadership of Wilder Penfield. Such narratives fail to account for Penfield's emotional labor and the networks of expertise that shaped the MNI. Using primary sources that reveal the transnational influences embedded in its design, this paper interrogates the foundation and evolution of the MNI particularly by looking at the early years of Penfield's career. It situates the MNI within the broader historiographies of medical space and scientific mobility drawing from Penfield's letters to illustrate the early influences that led to the establishment of the MNI. It proposes that history of emotions and history of mentalities can be effective methodologies to understand the diverse medical research communities of the early 20th century. Using his letters to his mother, Jean Jefferson Penfield, this paper interprets the emotional states of a young, self-doubting Penfield within a network of renowned neurologists of that period. In a wider context, through the case study of the MNI, this paper demonstrates that international collaboration and the physical mobility of researchers - as in the example of the American-born Penfield's global journey in search of knowledge and his path to becoming a naturalized citizen of Canada - are essential for the advancement of scientific research.