Subject: thevillage: Obituary for Patricia Goldman-Rakic
From: Michael Kane <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 05 Aug 2003 11:16:48 -0400

From the International Brain Research Organization website:

Eminent neuroscientist Patricia Goldman-Rakic, Professor of Neuroscience, 
Neurology, Psychiatry and Psychology, Yale University School of Medicine, 
died on 31 July 2003 at the age of 66. She died shortly after being 
accidentally struck by a vehicle.

IBRO Secretary-General Albert Aguayo, shocked by the news, said of 
Professor Goldman-Rakic: "World neuroscience has lost one of its best 
leaders. She did so much and would have accomplished so much more."

Yale University released the following obituary:

In Memoriam: Patricia Goldman-Rakic, Preeminent Yale Neuroscientist who 
Made Groundbreaking Discoveries in Working Memory and Explored the Brain’s 
Frontal Lobe

New Haven, Conn.—World-renowned neuroscientist Patricia S. Goldman-Rakic, 
professor of neuroscience, neurology, psychiatry and psychology at Yale 
University School of Medicine, died on July 31 at age 66.

“Pat Goldman-Rakic was one of the most distinguished neuroscientists of her 
generation,” said Yale President Richard C. Levin. “We grieve her tragic 
loss in the knowledge that her important contributions to science will live 
on.”

Considered a pioneer in the area of memory function, Goldman-Rakic’s 
research also paved the way for scientists to understand the 
neurobiological basis of normal behavior and of diseases such as 
schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and attention 
deficit-hyperactivity disorder. Goldman-Rakic brought a unique 
multidisciplinary approach to the study of the frontal lobe, a region of 
the brain once viewed as inaccessible to rigorous scientific analysis. She 
was the first to discover and describe the exquisite order and structure of 
this brain region, which is responsible for the highest level of cognitive 
functions.

Dr. Herbert Pardes, President and CEO of New York Presbyterian Hospital and 
former Dean of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons said, 
“Pat Goldman-Rakic was one of the most outstanding neuroscientists. She 
linked important issues in behavior and clinical psychiatry to basic 
science. She was truly a pioneer and a leader of our time.”

Paul Greengard, professor of Rockefeller University and Nobel Laureate in 
Physiology and Medicine said, “Patricia Goldman-Rakic raised the quality of 
multidisciplinary brain research to a new level. She utilized biochemical, 
electrophysiological, pharmacological, anatomical and behavioral techniques 
to elucidate much of what we know today about memory, behavior and the 
actions of anti-schizophrenic drugs. Her work has provided a foundation for 
understanding schizophrenia and other mental disorders.”

Among her seminal discoveries was the demonstration that cells in the 
prefrontal cortex are dedicated to specific memory tasks. Goldman-Rakic’s 
recent research at Yale focused on the role of signaling molecules and 
their involvement in a number of brain disorders and cognitive deficits. In 
the 1970’s, she found that the loss of dopamine in the prefrontal cortex 
produced profound working memory deficits. This study changed the view of 
neuropsychiatry, and helped provide a rational basis for understanding the 
symptoms of mental illness and the effects of psychoactive medications. 
More recently, she discovered and sought to understand how a brief period 
of amphetamine abuse in early adolescence or early adulthood can produce 
long-lasting cognitive deficits.

Her studies of dopamine receptors in the brain have provided important 
insights into potential treatments for schizophrenia and Parkinson’s 
disease. For example, she and her colleagues identified the protein 
Calcyon, which may be a new target for drug development to improve the 
signaling in cells that are otherwise desensitized to dopamine. This is 
particularly important because many of the current drugs for these 
disorders have negative side effects after long-term use.

“The world of neuroscience has lost a formidable ally in the search for a 
deeper understanding of the human brain,” said Susan Hockfield, Provost of 
Yale University and the William Edward Gilbert Professor of Neurobiology. 
Not only was she a dedicated and brilliant researcher, she was also a great 
and beloved mentor to many junior researchers. Her discoveries and insights 
into brain function have forever changed our understanding of the mind and 
the brain.”

A native of Salem, Massachusetts, Goldman-Rakic, received a bachelor’s 
degree cum laude from Vassar College in 1959 and a Ph.D. from the 
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1963. She was a member of 
the Yale faculty since 1979 and before that, conducted research at UCLA, 
NYU, MIT and the National Institutes of Health.

The author and collaborator on hundreds of scientific papers, Goldman-Rakic 
won many awards and honors for her work. She was elected to the National 
Academy of Sciences in 1990 and was President of the Society for 
Neuroscience from 1989-90. She was a member of the American Academy of Arts 
and Sciences and the Institute of Medicine and she was a fellow of The 
American Psychological Association.

Her many awards and honors include the Karl Lashley Award from the American 
Philosophical Society; the Leiber Award from the National Alliance for 
Research on Schizophrenia and Depression; Distinguished Scientific 
Contribution Award from the American Psychological Association; a Merit 
Award from the National Institute of Mental Health; the Fyssen Foundation 
Prize in Neuroscience; and the Alden Spencer Award from Columbia 
University. She received honorary degrees from the University of Utrecht, 
Netherlands, and the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. She founded the 
journal Cerebral Cortex, and served on editorial boards for the journals 
Science, Advances in Neuroscience, Behavioral Brain Research, Concepts in 
Neuroscience, Biological Psychiatry and many others. She also held numerous 
advisory positions, including at the NIH, the NIMH, the Weitzman Institute, 
Israel, and other institutions. She was an invited lecturer at 
universities, research centers, conferences and symposia around the world.

Goldman-Rakic is survived by her husband, Pasko Rakic, M.D., a fellow 
distinguished neuroscientist at Yale and a sister, Ruth Rappaport, also a 
scientist. She was predeceased by a sister, Linda Shoer.

**********************************************
Michael J. Kane
Department of Psychology
P.O. Box 26170
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Greensboro, NC 27402-6170

Voice: 336-256-1022
Fax: 336-334-5066
Web: http://www.uncg.edu/~mjkane/HomePage.html