Arvid Carlsson
Carlsson, Arvid,
1923–2018, Swedish pharmacologist, grad. Univ. of Lund, Sweden, (M.D., Ph.D., 1951). Carlsson was a professor at the Univ. of Lund (1951–59) and at the Univ. of Gothenburg, Sweden (1959–89). In 2000 he, Paul GreengardGreengard, Paul,1925–2019, American neuroscientist, b. New York City, Ph.D. Johns Hopkins, 1953. Greengard was on the staff at Geigy Research Laboratories (1959–67) and a professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (1961–70) and Yale (1968–83).
..... Click the link for more information. , and Eric KandelKandel, Eric Richard,
1929–, American neurobiologist, b., Vienna, Austria, M.D. New York Univ., 1956. Kandel was at the Harvard Medical School (1960–65) and New York Univ. (1965–74) before joining the faculty at Columbia in 1974.
..... Click the link for more information. were awarded the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for their discoveries concerning signal transduction in the nervous system. The nerve cells in the human brain are linked by a complex network of nerve processes, with messages being transmitted via various chemical transmitters, or neurotransmittersneurotransmitter,
chemical that transmits information across the junction (synapse) that separates one nerve cell (neuron) from another nerve cell or a muscle. Neurotransmitters are stored in the nerve cell's bulbous end (axon).
..... Click the link for more information. , not electricity as was believed formerly. Carlsson was cited for discovering that dopaminedopamine
, one of the intermediate substances in the biosynthesis of epinephrine and norepinephrine. See catecholamine.
..... Click the link for more information. is a neurotransmitter and that it is critical to movement control. He proposed that a lack of dopamine in certain parts of the brain causes Parkinson's diseaseParkinson's disease
or Parkinsonism,
degenerative brain disorder first described by the English surgeon James Parkinson in 1817. When there is no known cause, the disease usually appears after age 40 and is referred to as Parkinson's disease; a number of genes have
..... Click the link for more information. and also showed that l-dopal-dopa
, drug used to alleviate some of the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, particularly trembling, rigidity, and slow movements; the drug is also called levodopa. Parkinson's disease results when the concentration of dopamine in the brain is depleted (see catecholamine).
..... Click the link for more information. might treat the disease. Carlsson's later research led to the development of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), a class of antidepressantsantidepressant,
any of a wide range of drugs used to treat psychic depression. They are given to elevate mood, counter suicidal thoughts, and increase the effectiveness of psychotherapy.
..... Click the link for more information. .