“The science of neuroplasticity is slowly but surely transforming how we think about ourselves and our brains, and how we can build a stronger brain that provides us with a better life,” said Dr Michael Merzenich.
He was speaking in a roundtable discussion with Professors Eve Marder and Carla Shatz following the trio’s receipt of the $1million 2016 Kavli Prize in Neuroscience.
The three scientists discussed how their work disrupted a central dogma of neuroscience and how it offers the promise of plasticity-based treatments for people who are struggling to learn, have brain damage or who have brains at risk of mental illness or dementia.
Dr Merzenich is Professor Emeritus in Neuroscience at the University of California, San Francisco. He is also the co-founder of Posit Science and Scientific Learning, two companies which developed BrainHQ and Fast ForWord, computer-based training tools for the brain.
Dr Shatz is Professor of Neurobiology and of Biology at Stanford University, and Director of Stanford Bio-X, an institute that brings together faculty from across the university – clinicians, biologists, engineers, physicists, computer scientists – to unlock the secrets of the human body.
Dr Marder is Professor of Neuroscience in the Biology Department at Brandeis University.
Read the discussion on The Kavli Prize website.
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