History of Program

Our Neurosciences Program is one of the finest in the world with a long tradition of excellence. Its long history includes Nobel prize-winning work on:

• Nerve conduction velocity and its relation to axon diameter by Erlanger and Gasser
• Discovery of the first neuronal trophic factor, nerve growth factor, by Levi-Montalcini, Cohen and Hamburger
• Discovery of the “second messenger”, cAMP, by Sutherland

In the 1970’s, Michael Ter-Pogossian, Michael Phelps, Marcus Raichle and others developed Positron Emission Tomography (PET), a technology that paved the way in the functional imaging of the brain. Continued innovation and expansion has allowed it to remain at the forefront of exciting developments on many different fronts. Today, a large and interactive faculty focuses interest on almost every area of modern neuroscience ranging from molecular analysis of ion channels to functional magnetic resonance imaging of the human brain.