How It Was Discovered

Discoverer- Myrtelle M. Canavan
When- 1931
How- Around 1905, Myrtelle Canavan became dedicated to solving the puzzle of how much damage in the brain and nervous system affected a person's mind and/or body. Not much is said that proclaims physically what Canavan used to aid in her accomplishment.
With a colleague, she co-wrote a paper that described the condition of what's now called 'Canavans disease'. This later resulted as her most famous peice, made in 1931.
After discovering the disease, Harvard Medical School took most credit for the discovery and only gave her the title of "assistant curator". This is, yet again, another example of women being treated unfairly in the art of science.