John Eccles was born in 1909 in Glasgow, Scotland. He studied medicine at the University of Birmingham and graduated with a BSc degree in 1936. He then turned to research into the causes of learning disabilities, particularly dyslexia. Eccles is best known for his work on the phenomenon of long-term potentiation in relation to neurobiology and behaviour
His early experiments showed that the hippocampus has a crucial role in learning and memory. Eccles was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1973 for his work on the role of the hippocampus in learning and memory. His research has been largely responsible for the modern understanding of the role of neurons and synapses in memory formation.
I decided, as a medical student, to devote myself to a study of the brain.John Eccles
A board constituted as the board of Sydney Hospital is constituted is not a suitable body to have control of an institute of medical research.John Eccles
I, at the age of 17 or 18 as a medical student, suddenly came up against a problem: 'What am I? What is the meaning of my existence as I experience it?'John Eccles
