Pasko Rakic facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Pasko Rakic
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Rakic in 2016
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| Born | May 15, 1933 |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater |
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| Awards | Kavli Prize (2008) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Neuroscience |
| Institutions | Yale University |
Pasko Rakic (born May 15, 1933) is an American scientist who studies the brain. He was born in what was then Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Today, he works at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
His main research focuses on how the human brain grows and changes. He helped start the Department of Neurobiology and the Kavli Institute for Neuroscience at Yale. Dr. Rakic is famous for figuring out how the brain's outer layer, called the cerebral cortex, develops. In 2008, he won the first-ever Kavli Prize in Neuroscience, a very important award. He is still a professor, leading his own research lab and helping guide other science groups.
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Early Life and Learning
Pasko Rakic was born on May 15, 1933, in a town called Ruma. This area was part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia back then. His father was an accountant, and his mother had Serbian and Slovakian family roots.
Because of his father's job, Pasko's family moved often. He finished high school in Sremska Mitrovica. Later, he went to the University of Belgrade School of Medicine. He earned his medical degree and first planned to become a brain surgeon.
Discovering Brain Research
In 1962, Pasko Rakic received a special scholarship called a Fulbright Fellowship. This allowed him to study at Harvard University in Boston, USA. There, he met Professor Paul Yakovlev. Professor Yakovlev showed him how exciting it was to study how the human brain develops. This new interest made Rakic decide to stop being a surgeon.
He returned to Belgrade and continued his studies. In 1969, he earned another degree in Developmental Biology and Genetics. While working on his advanced degree, Rakic made his first big discovery about the brain. This discovery became known around the world. After that, he worked and taught at Harvard Medical School for eight years.
Later Career and Leadership
In 1978, Dr. Rakic moved to Yale University. He started the Department of Neurobiology there and became its first leader. He also became the director of the Kavli Institute for Neuroscience at Yale. From 1995 to 1996, he was the president of the Society for Neuroscience. This is a large group of scientists who study the brain.
In 2015, he decided to focus full-time on his research. His projects are supported by the US Public Health Services and other private groups. That same year, he gave a special speech for the Irene Jakob Memorial Lecture series. This series honors Irene Jakab, a psychiatrist known for using art therapy to help people.
Amazing Brain Research
Dr. Rakic is famous for his deep studies into how the brain develops and changes over time. He has found out how brain cells, called neurons, grow and move in the cerebral cortex. This outer layer of the brain is very important for thinking and for what makes humans so smart.
Tracing Brain Cells
One of his early experiments at Harvard needed a lot of special material. He gave rhesus monkeys a tiny amount of a radioactive substance. This substance was taken up only by cells that were growing. By doing this, Rakic could follow the path of brain cells as they were made.
He and his team then carefully cut the monkeys' brains into thousands of thin slices. These slices were kept in his collection for future scientists to study. Because the radioactive material decays slowly, these slices are still useful today. They have helped lead to many new scientific papers. This work also showed that the neurons in the cerebral cortex last a person's whole life and cannot be replaced.
Big Ideas About Brain Growth
Rakic discovered that new brain cells are "assigned" their jobs very early on. He suggested that cells stick to each other in specific ways as they move along special paths in the brain. These ideas led him to create two important theories: the "radial unit hypothesis" and the "protomap" hypothesis. These ideas help us understand how the human brain develops normally and what can go wrong.
He also showed that brain connections, like those for vision, compete with each other before birth. He found that the brain makes too many connections and then gets rid of the ones it doesn't need. This process helps the brain become more efficient.
Honors and Awards
- Grass Foundation Award, 1985
- Karl Spencer Lashley Award, 1986
- Francois I Medal, 1986
- Kreig Cortical Discoverer Award, 1989
- Marta Philipson Award, 2000
- Pasarow Foundation Award, 2001
- Fyssen International Science Prize, 1992
- F.O. Schmitt Medal, 1992
- Weinstein-Goldenson Award, 1994
- Henry Gray Award, 1996
- Bristol-Myers Squibb Award, 2002
- Gerard Prize, 2002
- Inaugural Kavli Neuroscience Prize (shared), 2008
- Krieg Lifetime Achievement Award (shared), 2010
- Max Cowan Award, 2013
- Sandy Palay Award, 2014
- Child Mind Institute Award, 2014
- Becker Award, 2014
- Royal Academy of Medicine (Spain), 2018
- Royal Academy of London (UK), 2018
Personal Life
Pasko Rakic is married to Sandra Biller. He was previously married to Patricia Goldman-Rakic, who was also a pioneering neuroscientist. She passed away in 2003.
