Background
Bailey, Percival was born on May 9, 1892 in Mount Vernon, Illinois, United States. Son of John Henry and Mattie Estella (Orr) Bailey.
neurologist neurosurgeon psychiatrist
Bailey, Percival was born on May 9, 1892 in Mount Vernon, Illinois, United States. Son of John Henry and Mattie Estella (Orr) Bailey.
He originally studied to became a teacher at Illinois Normal University, but transferred to the University of Chicago in 1912, where he became interested in neurology. In 1918 he graduated from Northwestern University in Evanston, and in 1919 became an assistant to Harvey Cushing (1869-1939) at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston.
In 1928 he became head of the neurosurgical department at the University of Chicago, and in 1939 was professor of neurology and neurological surgery at the University of Illinois. From 1951 he was director of the Illinois State Psychiatric Institute. Percival Bailey is remembered for his collaborative work with Harvey Cushing, and his important work involving the classification of brain tumors, which prior to his research was in state of disarray and confusion.
From 1922 to 1925, Bailey performed extensive pathological and histological studies of brain tumors, and based on cellular configuration, he created a classification system of thirteen categories.
In 1927, he reduced the number of categories to ten. In 1925, Bailey identified a mid-cerebellar glioma that is usually associated with childhood called a medulloblastoma, of which he published an important paper with Cushing titled Medulloblastoma Cerebelli.
The two doctors are credited with coining the term "hemangioblastoma". With Paul Bucy (1904-1992), Bailey made investigations involving the structure of intracranial tumors and meningeal tumors.
The two men were able to confirm that a specific type of tumor (now known as an oligodendroglioma) consisted of oligodendroglia.
With Gerhardt von Bonin (1890-1979), Bailey authored two works, "The Neocortex of Macaca Mulatta" and "The Isocortex of Manitoba", which provided an accurate description concerning the cytoarchitecture of the cerebral cortex. As a psychiatrist, Bailey was a vocal critic of Freudian psychology, which he considered speculative and unscientific. In 1965, he published a book about Freud titled "Sigmund The Unserene".
Member American Medical Association, Chicago Medical Society, Chicago Neurological Society, Institute of Medicine of Chicago, Central Neuropsychiatric Association, American Association Anatomists, American Association Pathologists and Bacteriologists, American Neurological Association, Society Neurological Surgeons, and other American and foreign societies. Club: Chicago Literary.
Married Yevnige Bashbazirghanian, October 25, 1923. Children: Irene Anahid, Norman Alishan.
