鈥淎n odd combination鈥� is how neuroscientists describe the joint winners of
this year鈥檚 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Arvid Carlsson, Paul
Greengard and Eric Kandel are all recognised for providing pivotal advances in
our understanding of how the brain works鈥攁nd are rewarded with their share
of the 拢625,000 payout. 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 have bracketed those three together,鈥�
says Philip Strange of Reading University. 鈥淏ut they are three great men.鈥�
In the 1950s, Carlsson, from Gothenburg University in Sweden, showed that a
brain chemical called dopamine is important for controlling movement. This led
to the discovery that Parkinson鈥檚 disease occurs when dopamine-producing nerve
cells in the brain die. As a result the dopamine precursor, L-dopa, was
developed as a successful drug for the disease. 鈥淐arlsson鈥檚 discovery has had a
massive effect on the lives of hundreds of thousands of people with Parkinson鈥檚
disease,鈥� says pharmacologist Peter Jenner of King鈥檚 College London. 鈥淚t was
absolutely fundamental. He should have been given the Nobel Prize years ago.鈥�
His work ultimately led to the development of modern antidepressant drugs such
as Prozac.
Carlsson, at 77, says he is surprised but happy about receiving the prize
after so long. 鈥淚 feel great!鈥� he says.
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Paul Greengard from Rockefeller University in New York discovered how
dopamine and similar neurotransmitters work. He showed that they modify proteins
at synapses鈥攖he points of contact between nerve cells鈥攊n a process
called 鈥減hosphorylation鈥�. Altering these proteins controls how excitable the
nerve cells are. 鈥淭his was pioneering work,鈥� says Steve Nahorski of Leicester
University. 鈥淏ut now we know how important his work was. Now we believe that all
synapses are controlled by phosphorylation.鈥�
Eric Kandel of Columbia University in New York studied what happens to
synapses by studying sea slugs. His research showed for the first time that
learning can be explained simply by nerve cell activity. When you prod a sea
slug, it quickly retracts from the stimulus. But keep prodding it and it stops
responding. In this way, Kandel showed that continued phosphorylation of
proteins at the synapses governs their ability to carry signals. 鈥淗e has made a
fantastic contribution to neuroscience,鈥� says neuroscientist Seth Grant of
Edinburgh University, who worked with Kandel in the 1990s.
However, Grant suggests that another scientist, Tim Bliss of the National
Institute of Medical Research in London, might consider himself a little unlucky
not to have a share of the prize. It was Bliss who showed that the same
mechanisms accompany learning in mammals. Bliss, however, praises the choice of
Kandel. 鈥淗is work set the landscape for research in the field,鈥� he says. But
might they have rewarded him too? 鈥淭hey might have done, but they didn鈥檛,鈥� he
says.