Yale Bulletin and Calendar

March 16, 2001

Volume 29, Number 22

Patricia S. Goldman-Rakic

Goldman-Rakic is Eugene Higgins
Professor of Neurobiology

Patricia S. Goldman-Rakic, newly ap-pointed as the Eugene Higgins Professor of Neurobiology, focuses her research on the brain's cellular mechanisms for memory and cognition.

The author or coauthor of more than 300 articles and papers for major scientific publications, Goldman-Rakic has conducted much of her research on the prefrontal cortex, the brain area most concerned with reasoning and thought. She has studied such issues as the development and organization of its neural circuitry, and physiological and pharmacological properties in relation to this area's memory functions. Her work has shown how the modular structure of neural connections constrains these functions.

Among her contributions, Goldman-Rakic has described how the neurotransmitter dopamine alters cellular functions in the prefrontal cortex by actions at the D1 receptor (one of five known dopamine receptors.) Last year, a team led by Goldman-Rakic showed that memory impairments produced by loss of D1 stimulation can be reversed by the application of an experimental drug which stimulates the D1 receptor. This groundbreaking research could lead to development of more effective drugs for conditions which are marked by dopamine deficiency, such as Parkinson's disease, chronic schizophrenia and aging.

A graduate of Vassar College, Goldman-Rakic earned her Ph.D. from the University of California at Los Angeles. Before joining the Yale faculty in 1979, she was chief of the section of developmental neurobiology at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland. At Yale, she holds joint appointments in the Departments of Psychiatry, Neurology and Psychology, and she was director of graduate studies for the School of Medicine's Section of Neuroanatomy 1981-86. She was acting chair of the Section of Neurobiology 1986-87. She has served on numerous University committees, and chaired the Biological Sciences Advisory Committee from 1993 to 1996.

Goldman-Rakic has received invitations to lecture at universities around the world. She served or currently is an adviser to many national organizations and research programs, including the National Institute of Mental Health, the Institute of Medicine, the National Academy of Sciences, the International Brain Research Organization and the Weizmann Institute. She also served on the editorial boards of numerous leading publications on neurobiology and psychiatry.

The neuroscientist has earned many honors for her pioneering brain research, including France's Fyssen Foundation Prize in Neuroscience; the American Philosophical Society's Karl Lashley Award; the Lieber Award from the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression; the John P. McGovern Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science; and the Robert T. and Claire Pasarow Foundation Award, which recognizes contributions to an understanding of schizophrenia. Last year, she received an honorary degree from the University of Utrecht.

Goldman-Rakic is a fellow or member of the National Academy of Science, the Institute of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Society for Neuroscience. She served as president of the latter organization in 1990.

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Economist will develop better way to measure economic activity in U.S.

Yale SOM to establish database for study of world's financial history

F&ES to create industrial ecology program in Asia

Greene and Brisman awarded DeVane Medals

Professor Lane explains the economics of happiness

Scientist Thomas Steitz honored with Sterling Professorship

Goldman-Rakic is Eugene Higgins Professor of Neurobiology

Joan Steitz cited as outstanding woman scientist

Student actors 'take flight' in comic version of 'The Birds'

Exhibition examines photographers' contrasting images of Saarinen designs

'Faces of Hope' offers portraits of people living with HIV

Model urges students to take pride in their bodies

'Cities and Buildings' pays tribute to urban works . . .

Forum to explore fate of U.S. 'melting pot'

Discovery boosts understanding of hereditary blindness

Grants will support Yale researcher's study on how to quell the 'voices' . . .

Women under 60 more likely to die after heart attack, says study

Renowned nuclear physicist to discuss 'Science, Technology and Politics'

'A Taste of Inequality' explores issues still on feminist frontline

Love songs will be dramatized in workshops

New fund will support activities for teachers of religious studies

New ways of funding environmental enterprises to be examined

Film series focus on the banned and Brazilian

Innovation is focus of this year's Spring Teaching Forum

Annual Pride Week celebration will feature talks, comedy night and film

Campus Notes