Eve Marder facts for kids

Eve Marder is a top scientist who studies the brain. She is a professor of Neuroscience at Brandeis University. Dr. Marder is famous for her amazing work on tiny brain networks. She uses many different ways to study how these networks work.

Her most well-known research is on the stomatogastric nervous system (STNS) of crustaceans. This is a small brain network with only 30 neurons. She found that brain circuits are not fixed. They can change and adapt. Special chemicals called neuromodulators can reconfigure them. This allows the same circuit to produce many different actions.

Dr. Marder's discoveries have changed how scientists study brain circuits. Her ideas help us understand how brains work. These ideas are useful for understanding human brains too. She has written many scientific papers and articles.

She has won many important awards for her work. These include the National Medal of Science in 2023. She also received the Kavli Prize in 2016. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Becoming a Brain Scientist

Eve Marder was born in New York City. She grew up on the east coast of the United States. From a young age, she loved biology. However, she had many interests. She even thought about studying politics and becoming a lawyer.

In 1965, she started college at Brandeis University. After her first year, she switched to studying Biology. A key moment for her was writing a paper on schizophrenia. This was for a psychology class. Her research on how brain signals are stopped, called inhibition, made her sure. She decided to become a neuroscientist. This set her on her lifelong path.

Studying Lobster Brains

Dr. Marder earned her first degree from Brandeis University in 1969. Then, she went on to get her Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego. While there, she found the brain system she would study for years. This was the stomatogastric-ganglion system in lobsters.

Her Ph.D. work focused on a chemical called acetylcholine in the lobster STG. This led to her first major paper in the famous journal Nature. After her Ph.D., she did more research in Oregon and Paris, France.

In 1978, Dr. Marder returned to Brandeis University. She started her own research lab there. In 1990, she helped create one of the first college programs for neuroscience in the U.S. She has guided many students and researchers.

Amazing Brain Discoveries

Dr. Marder's work on the 30 neurons of the lobster STG led to many important findings. She showed that these brain circuits can be changed. Many neuromodulators can affect them. She also studied plasticity and homeostasis. Plasticity means the brain can change a lot during learning. Homeostasis means it can still stay stable.

Her recent work shows that different brains can work in similar ways. Even if the parts are slightly different, the overall behavior can be the same. This led her to study how temperature affects brain circuits. This research connects to climate change.

Dr. Marder has explored many topics in neuroscience. Early on, she focused on how chemicals change brain circuits. At that time, many thought neurons were fixed. They believed brain diagrams would show exactly how a circuit worked. But Dr. Marder showed that chemicals can change how parts of the circuit behave. This changes the circuit's output.

Her lab also looked at how a circuit can have many solutions. Different individuals might solve the same problem in different ways. They found that models with varying ion channel densities can still produce similar brain activity. In the 1990s, she helped create the dynamic clamp method. This tool lets scientists add theoretical brain signals to living neurons. This helps them see how different circuits might work.

Brain Research and Our Changing World

Currently, Dr. Marder's lab studies how climate change affects brain performance. They look at how temperature, pH, and salt levels impact individual brains. Her group found "hidden" changes in brain circuits. These changes are due to an animal's past temperature. These hidden changes only appear when the system faces an environmental challenge.

Dr. Marder has also served on many important science groups. She was involved in the BRAIN Initiative in 2013. This project aims to understand the human brain.

A book about Dr. Marder's life and science was published in 2018. It is called "Lessons from the Lobster: Eve Marder's Work in Neuroscience". The book talks about her early career and her scientific breakthroughs. It also shares lessons she learned during her long and successful career.

Awards and Honors

• Elected, American Philosophical Society (2024)
• National Medal of Science (2023)
• Pearl Meister Greengard Prize, Rockefeller University (2023)
• Landis Mentoring Award, NINDS (2023)
• Honorary Doctorate from University of Liège (2023)
• Honorary Doctorate from Princeton University (2022)
• National Academy of Science Award in the Neurosciences (2019)
• Honorary Doctorate from Tel Aviv University (2017)
• Kavli Prize in Neuroscience (2016)
• Gruber Neuroscience Prize (2013)
• Member, Institute of Medicine (2013)
• George A. Miller Prize, Cognitive Neuroscience Society (2012)
• Karl Spenser Lashley Prize, American Philosophical Society (2012)
• Honorary Doctor of Science, Bowdoin College (2010)
• Fellow, Biophysical Society (2008)
• President, Society for Neuroscience (2008)
• Member, National Academy of Sciences (2007)
• President-Elect, Society for Neuroscience (2006–2007)
• Gerard Prize, Society for Neuroscience (2005)
• Trustee of the Grass Foundation (2002–2005)
• Women in Neuroscience Mika Salpeter Lifetime Achievement Award (2002–2003)
• American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2001–2001)
• MERIT (Method to Extend Research in Time) Award, National Institutes of Health (1995–2000)
• McKnight Endowment fund for Neuroscience Investigator Award (1994)
• Jacob Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award, National Advisory Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke Council (1987–1994)