Wissenschaftliche Vorbereitung: Alfons Labisch ML (Düsseldorf)

Sir John C. Eccles (1903-1997), Nobel Prize winner and one of the most important neurophysiologists of the 20th century, studied for the Ph.D. with Sir Charles S. Sherrington and later became his assistant. Sir John thus represents the second generation of this discipline, one now embedded in neuroscience.

His neurophysiological research pioneered understanding of the synapse and signal transmission in the central nervous system. He also
sought a dialogue with philosophers, especially Karl Popper, and through his own writings pursued a life-long interest in the mind-brain problem dating from his student days in Australia.

His large collection of manuscripts and international correspondence is being catalogued at the Institute for the History of Medicine of Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf. To launch historical research in Neuroscience, the Symposium firstly illustrates the personal impact of Eccles’ work on his students, their careers and the new schools to which they themselves gave rise. Secondly, the long-term and continuing impact of his pioneering work on motoneurones, the spinal cord, synaptic transmission, hippocampus, cerebellum, thalamus, as well as philosophical issues, will be evidenced. Accordingly, the Symposium will be a rich blend of Sir John's influence on the scholars who worked directly with him, later on their own schools and on the fields of research reviewed in 'state of the art' lectures by leading neuroscientists.