Eric Richard Kandel (* 7 November 1929 in Vienna) is an US-American neuro scientist and carrier of the Nobelpreises for physiology and medicine.

Life

Youth and study

Eric Kandel was born 1929 as a son of Charlotte Zimels and Hermann Kandel as a second child after its five years older brother Lewis. Already during its first eleven a large interest in biology showed up Lebensjahre in Vienna. 1939 had to emigrieren Kandel with its family due to its Jewish descent into the United States, since the Antisemitismus had strongly increased a normal life for Jews after the invasion and the occupation of Austria by German troops and made almost impossible. He spent the remainder of its basic school time on the Jewish Yeshiva in Flatbush, a quarter of New York, until he to 1944 on the Erasmus resound High School in Brooklyn crossed, where he began to be interested in history and literature. There also as one of two pupils, who were selected among more than 1,400 applicants, a scholarship for a study to the Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts was granted to it.

To the neuro sciences Kandel came over a friendly Kommilitonin, whose parents were convinced trailers of the freudschen theory to the psychoanalysis. Like that Sigmund Freud, the pioneer in the study of the unconscious neuralen procedures in the human brain, was the cause for Kandels interest in the biology of the motivation and the conscious and unconscious memory.

First research

In the autumn 1952 Kandel changed on the New York University, in order to study psychiatry there and Psychoanalytiker become finally. Against end of its study time he decided however, differently than most other psychiatry students of its time, not the psychological to examine and investigate but the biological procedures of the brain more exactly. In this time he became acquainted with his future Mrs. Denise Bystryn.

Few it, to the Columbia University in the laboratory of Harry basic celebration, began time later a well-known New Yorker neuro biologist to research. The other researchers, with whom Kandel co-operated there, were busy with considerations over at the time at that time the technically very complicated recording of electrical activity of the relatively small neurons of the brains of vertebrate animals.

After he had begun to work itself by the difficult area of the electrical physiology of the cerebral Cortex he was very impressed of progress, which Stephen Kuffler with a system more accessible by experiments made. These isolated neurons of marine eddy lots, in order to then re-use it.

1957 changed Kandel to the Laboratory OF Neurophysiology of the national institute for health and continued there with its work to electricalphysiological recordings with neurons from the region of the Hippocampus, particularly, in order to find out whether the Hippocampus is directly involved in the process of storing memories in the brain and the itself Erinnerns. However he could not find reference points for the fact that the Hippocampus is responsible for the memory ability of humans. It recognized that the memory had to be connected with the synaptic connections between the neurons and that the Hippocampus with its complex entwinements was suitable not well for investigating the exact function of the synapses. In addition he knew that comparable attitude studies had proven a small adaptability for example from Konrad Lorenz, Nikolaas Tinbergen and Karl von Frisch at least with all animals. Thus it decided to accomplish its attempts at a less complex animal species in order to simplify so its electricalphysiological analyses at synapses. It believed to be able to then transfer the results of its studies to humans and its brain. This decision was not without risk, since many above all older biologists meant that by the study of the physiology that could not be found out eddy lots much over the human memory ability.

Aplysia Californica

1962 went to Kandel to Paris, in order to be occupied there with sea snail the Aplysia californica. It had stated that simple forms of learning as for example the sensitization as well as classical and operante conditioning also at individual Ganglia of the Aplysia to be examined to be able.

While the behavior of an individual ganglion cell is observed, an axon, which leads to the ganglion, could be stimulated easily and be acted in such a way as tactile stimulus, while another axon than pain stimulus could be used. The operational sequence otherwise obeyed with natural Stimulationen with vertebrate animals would have to be kept.

Electricalphysiological changes, which are caused by the cooperating stimuli, could be attributed then to specific synapses. 1965 published Kandel the results of its studies.

New York Medical School

Later Kandel transferred a post in the department OF Physiology and Psychiatry the New York Medical School, where he helped to develop the department for neuro biology and behavior sciences. Here it began with some colleagues research to short and long-term memory.

In the year 1981 it succeeded to the members of the group of researchers to expand the Aplysia system on a study over classical conditioning which helped finally, the gap, which between the simple forms of learning, which was brought with less developed animals like the eddy lots in connection, and which more complex learning procedures of the vertebrate animals had opened itself to close.

Apart from the fundamental behavior research the researchers observed also the cross-linking of the different kinds of nerve cell, which are complicated into the learning process. This permitted an exact analysis of the synapses, which are changed by learning with animals. The laboratory results supported the thesis that learning was a functional change of the effectiveness already before existing linkages.

Molecular changes with the learning process

Since 1966 James Schwartz with Kandel worked on a biochemical analysis of changes in nerve cells, which with learning and the memory to do to have. At this time it was well-known that a storage of things in the long-term memory, differently than in the short time memory, which production of special proteins presupposes. 1972 came it to the realization that in the ganglia of the Aplysia under conditions, which cause the storage in the short time memory, which Second of measuringclose is manufactured cAMP. 1974 were found out that the neurotransmitter Serotonin, which is involved in the production of cAMP can lead molecularly directly to a sensitization to a certain reflex.

1983 helped Kandel to develop the Howard Hughes Medical of institutes for molecular neuro sciences of the Columbia University. With its laboratory colleagues it continued identifying the proteins which are to be manufactured, in order to convert short time memory into long-term memory. In co-operation with other researchers the Transkriptionsfaktor CREB (English cAMP response element being thing protein) was discovered and its role than a protein contributing to the long-term memory was proven. A consequence of the activation of CREB is an increase of the number of synaptic connections. From this it was concluded that short time memory is a consequence of functional changes in synapses already existing and long-term memory comes out from a change in the total number of the synapses.

Some the synaptic changes, which were discovered in Kandels laboratory, examples of learning procedures are according to the Hebb rule. Thus one of the publications describes (presynaptic facilitation and Activity dependent hebbian LTP of acres both required and interact during classical conditioning in Aplysia; Neuron. 2003 January 9; 37 (1): 135-47; [1]) the role of Hebb learning with the Aplysia siphon withdrawal reflex.

In addition in the laboratory meaning attempts with artificially towards-mutated mice were accomplished to the search for the molecular basis for memory ability in the Hippocampus by vertebrate animals. Kandels original assumption that certain learning mechanisms show up with all organisms, proved as correct. It was stated that neurotransmitters, Second of measuringclose, protein kinases, ion channels and Transkriptionsfaktoren are involved in learning and storage procedures such as CREB both with vertebrate animals and with eddy lots.

Since 1974 Eric Kandel member that is national Academy OF Sciences of the USA.

Nobelpreis 2000

2000 were lent Eric R. Kandel as well as Sweden Arvid Carlsson and the American Paul Greengard of the Nobelpreis for medicine for their discoveries concerning the signal transmission in the nervous system.

Works

• Cellular basis OF Behavior, 1976
• Mind and Behavior, 1980
• Principles OF new ral Science, 1982
• '' On the search for the memory. The emergence of a new science of the spirit '' - settler publishing house, March 2006. German expenditure of the title "“in search OF MEMORY"”. ISBN 978-3-88680-842-7. 524 S.
• '' Psychiatry, psychoanalysis and the new biology of the spirit '' - Suhrkamp publishing house, April 2006. ISBN 3-518-58451-0. 341 S.

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