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Three researchers who have revealed how the brain works win the Nobel

. . . Forty years ago . . . the brain was a black box about which nothing was known . . . ; now, it is an organ whose workings are known in general terms and for which there are . . . relatively efficacious drugs. This change in perspective is due, in large part, to the work of three pioneers who yesterday were awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine: the Swede Arvid Carlsson, and the Americans Paul Greengard and Eric Kandel.

The work Arvid Carlsson has carried out for over forty years spans the whole spectrum of biomedical research, ranging from . . . experiments with a substance few were willing to put money on — dopamine — up to the design of drugs against Parkinson's, schizophrenia and depression . . . [and] a series of studies that revealed how and where Parkinson's disease starts and how to treat it. Even nowadays, at his 77 years of age, “it's impressive how he continues to vibrate with research”, Ernest Arenas, . . . Catalan researcher at the Karolinska Institute, explained yesterday in a phone interview. “I met him first . . . in 1998 at a meeting in Barcelona and was impressed by how, despite his age, he keeps on looking for better drugs against Parkinson's and still gets excited about his work”.

When asked about what he will do with the [Nobel] prize money . . ., Carlsson replied yesterday: “I first have to talk to my wife, she is the one who makes these decisions” . . .