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donald pfaff
American neuroscientist
Donald W. Pfaff is a prominent neuroscientist and professor at The Rockefeller University in New York City, where he heads the Laboratory of Neuroscience and Behavior. Born on December 9, 1939, Pfaff graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1961 and earned his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1965. He joined Rockefeller University as a post-doctoral fellow in 1966 and has since held various academic positions, including assistant professor and associate professor, before becoming a full professor in 1978 .13
Research Contributions
Pfaff's research has significantly advanced the understanding of brain mechanisms related to behavior, particularly focusing on how steroid hormones influence neural circuits. His early work involved identifying estrogen and androgen receptors in rat brains, leading to the discovery that similar mechanisms are present across vertebrates. His laboratory was the first to map out a nerve cell circuit responsible for a specific mammalian behavior and to identify hormone-sensitive genes that regulate such behaviors .13
He introduced the concept of generalized brain arousal (GA), which describes a motivational mechanism that initiates various behaviors. This concept has implications for understanding cognitive and emotional disorders in humans .4 Pfaff's lab has published over 900 research papers and he has authored or edited more than 25 books on neuroscience topics, including Estrogens and Brain Function and Brain Arousal and Information Theory .123
Honors and Recognition
Pfaff is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (elected in 1992) and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (elected in 1994). He has received numerous awards, including the National Institutes of Health MERIT Award in 2003 and the Foundation IPSEN Prize in Neuronal Plasticity in 2010 .13
Educational Impact
In addition to his research, Pfaff is committed to education; he has edited Neuroscience in the 21st Century, which is distributed free of charge to students in developing countries. This initiative reflects his dedication to making scientific knowledge accessible .13
Overall, Donald W. Pfaff's contributions to neuroscience have had a profound impact on both scientific understanding and educational outreach.
