John Eccles

John Eccles

Birth date	1903-01-27
Birth place	Melbourne, Australia
Died	2 May 1997(1997-05-02) (aged 94)
Place of death	Locarno, Switzerland
Nationality	Australian
Known for	Synapse

Sir John Carew Eccles (27 January 1903 – 2 May 1997) was an Australian neurophysiologist and philosopher who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1963 for his work on the synapse.

Early Life and Education

John Eccles was born in Melbourne, Australia. He attended the University of Melbourne, where he studied medicine and physiology. Eccles was greatly influenced by his doctoral advisor, Charles Scott Sherrington, a renowned neuroscientist.

Career

Eccles began his career at the University of Sydney before moving to the Australian National University and later the University of Otago in New Zealand. His research focused on the synaptic transmission in the central nervous system.

Research and Discoveries

Eccles is best known for his pioneering work on the synapse, the junction between neurons that allows for the transmission of nerve impulses. His research provided crucial insights into how neurons communicate with each other, which was fundamental to the understanding of the nervous system.

Nobel Prize

In 1963, Eccles was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine along with Alan Lloyd Hodgkin and Andrew Huxley for their discoveries concerning the ionic mechanisms involved in excitation and inhibition in the peripheral and central portions of the nerve cell membrane.

Later Life and Philosophy

In his later years, Eccles became interested in the philosophy of mind and the mind-body problem. He collaborated with the philosopher Karl Popper on the book The Self and Its Brain, which explores the relationship between the mind and the brain.

Legacy

John Eccles is remembered as one of the most influential neuroscientists of the 20th century. His work laid the foundation for modern neuroscience and has had a lasting impact on the field.

See Also

• Neuroscience
• Synapse
• Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

References

John,

 The Understanding of the Brain, 
  
 McGraw-Hill, 
 1973, 
  
  
 ISBN 978-0070191870,

Eccles, John,

 The Physiology of Synapses, 
 Springer, 
 1964,

External Links

• Nobel Prize Biography