Head, Henry (1861-1940)

British neurologist. He was appointed assistant physician to the London Hospital in 1896, and later became physician then consulting physician at the same institution. In 1903 he began to research sensory changes and for this purpose submitted to the division and suture of the radical and external cutaneous nerves of his own left arm. His subsequent study of the loss and restoration of function was published in Brain in 1908, and led to a reclassification of the sensory pathways. This and other work was republished in his Studies in Neurology (1920).

Head was born at Stamford Hill in London, England. He was educated at Charterhouse, Cambridge University, and University College, London. His Aphasia and Kindred Disorders of Speech (1926), was an important work. He was editor of Brain (1915-25).

He was knighted in 1927.