Eric Kandel is a neuroscientist celebrated for his research on the effect of learning on the brain’s neural pathways. His work has been central to shaping our understanding of both short- and long-term memory, and providing insight into the disorders that can compromise either one.
Many of Eric’s insights into the physiological basis of memory storage arose from his study of unconscious recall in the snail Aplysia, one of the simplest animals whose behaviour can be modified by experience. By studying the behaviour of synapses within the brains of Alypsia snails and subsequently higher lifeforms, Eric has been able to identify mechanisms fundamental to learning and memory.
Eric has received many of the world’s most prestigious awards for his groundbreaking contribution to neuroscience, including the 1999 Wolf Prize for Medicine and the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He is currently a Director of the Kavli Institute for Brain Science at Columbia University, Co-Director of the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, and a Senior Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Subject groups
- Biochemistry and molecular cell biology
Biochemistry and molecular biology, Biophysics and structural biology, Cell biology (incl molecular cell biology)
- Anatomy, physiology and neurosciences
Behavioural neuroscience, Cellular neuroscience, Development and control of behaviour
- Health and human sciences
Clinical neuroscience
Awards
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Jointly with Arvid Carlsson and Paul Greengard
Wolf Prize
In the field of medicine for the elucidation of the organismic, cellular and molecular mechanisms whereby short-term memory is converted to a long-term form.
