Kurt Goldstein

Kurt Goldstein (1878–1965) was a German neurologist and psychiatrist whose work helped shape modern neuropsychology and rehabilitation medicine. Trained in medicine in Germany, he became known for studying brain-injured patients, especially soldiers with neurological trauma, and for emphasizing the integrated functioning of the whole person rather than isolated deficits. Goldstein developed an organismic or holistic theory of the nervous system and behavior, arguing that symptoms must be understood in relation to the individual’s overall adaptation. His major book, *The Organism* (1934), set out these ideas and influenced later clinical and theoretical approaches to brain injury, cognition, and personality.