Eric Kandel, M.D.

Eric Kandel, M.D.

Eric Kandel is an Ashkenazi Jewish neuroscientist and Nobel Prize winner who was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1929. Ashkenazi Jews are a distinct Jewish group whose ancestors originated in Central and Eastern Europe. He spent his early childhood in a culturally vibrant but increasingly hostile environment as anti-Semitic policies took hold. After the Nazi annexation of Austria, Kandel and his family fled to the United States in 1939 to escape persecution. The experience of forced migration and starting over in a new country had a lasting impact on Kandel, shaping both his personal values and intellectual curiosity.

The research Kandel performed focused on the biological mechanisms of learning and memory. He used the sea slug Aplysia to show how changes at the individual neuron level are involved in forming memories. In 2000, Kandel was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. His research helped lay the groundwork for understanding the brain’s adaptability and the neural basis of learning and memory, which has important implications for treating neurological diseases.