Robert Lawson (?1846-1896).

Various descriptions of what would now be called Korsakoff Syndrome may be found in the medical literature predating the eponymous reports of Sergei Korsakoff (1854-1900) that date from 1887 onwards. Of these, it has been stated that the "most promising account" (Draaisma in Disturbances of the mind 163-164, 2009) may be that of Dr. Robert Lawson, published in 1878 in the journal Brain in its inaugural year of publication (Lawson in Brain 1:182-194, 1878). As Lawson is likely to be an unfamiliar name to most neurologists, and does not appear in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, we offer this brief account of his life and work.