Otto Loewi

Otto Loewi (3 June 1873 – 25 December 1961) was a German-born pharmacologist and psychobiologist who discovered the role of acetylcholine as an endogenous neurotransmitter. For this discovery he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1936, which he shared with Sir Henry Hallett Dale. He is often referred to as the "father of neuroscience" for his pioneering work in this field.

Early life and education

Loewi was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, on 3 June 1873. He studied medicine at the University of Strasbourg, graduating in 1896. He then completed his postgraduate studies in Munich and London, where he worked under the guidance of Emil Fischer and Henry Hallett Dale.

Career

In 1902, Loewi became an associate professor at the University of Marburg, and in 1909 he was appointed to the chair of pharmacology at the University of Graz in Austria. He held this position until 1938, when he was forced to leave Austria due to the Anschluss, the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany. He then moved to the United States, where he became a research professor at the New York University College of Medicine.

Research and discovery

Loewi's most significant work was his discovery of the chemical nature of neurotransmission. This work began in 1921, when he conducted an experiment that demonstrated the existence of chemical synapses. This experiment, now known as "Loewi's experiment", involved stimulating the vagus nerve of a frog's heart, which slowed the heart's rate of beating. He then took the fluid from around the heart and transferred it to a second heart, which also slowed down, demonstrating that the signal was chemical, not electrical. He identified the chemical as acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter.

Legacy

Loewi's discovery of the chemical nature of neurotransmission has had a profound impact on the field of neuroscience. It has led to the development of numerous drugs that target neurotransmitter systems, including treatments for diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

See also

• Neurotransmitter
• Acetylcholine
• Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

External links

• Otto Loewi - Facts on NobelPrize.org

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  Otto Loewi receiving the Nobel Prize
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  Sir Henry Hallett Dale and Otto Loewi
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  Vagusstoff experiment diagram
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  Otto Loewi Nobel Prize ceremony