Jean-Pierre Changeux

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Jean-Pierre Changeux : biography

6 April 1936 –

By the mid-1990s, Changeux concentrated most of his interest on the function of nicotinic receptors in the basal ganglia and in particular the mesencephalic dopaminergic system. Using mice deleted for nicotinic receptor genes, the group characterised the types of receptor subunits present in the dopaminergic cellsLe Novère N., Zoli M., Changeux J.-P. (1996). Neuronal nicotinic receptor a6 subunit mRNA is selectively concentrated in catecholaminergic nuclei of the rat brain. Eur J Neurosci 8: 2428-2439Klink R., de Kerchove d’Exaerde A., Zoli M., Changeux J.-P. (2001). Molecular and Physiological Diversity of Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors in the Midbrain Dopaminergic Nuclei. J. Neurosci. 21: 1452-1463.Champtiaux N, Gotti C, Cordero-Erausquin M, David DJ, Przybylski C, Lena C, Clementi F, Moretti M, Rossi FM, Le Novere N, McIntosh JM, Gardier AM, Changeux JP (2003) Subunit composition of functional nicotinic receptors in dopaminergic neurons investigated with knock-out mice. J Neurosci., 2003 Aug 27;23(21):7820-9. and identified the receptors mainly responsible of the dependence to nicotine, formed by the subunits α4, α6 and β2.Picciotto M.R., Zoli M., Rimondini R., Léna C., Marubio L., Merlo Pich E., Fuxe K., Changeux J.-P. (1998). Acetylcholine receptors containing the b2-subunit are involved in the reinforcing properties of nicotine. Nature 391: 173-177 (1998).Maskos U., Molles B.E, Pons S., Besson M., Guiard B.P., Guilloux J.P., Evrard A., Cazala P., Cormier A., Mameli-Engvall M., Dufour N., Cloz-Tayarani I., Bemelmans A.-P., Mallet J., Gardier A.M., David V., Faure P., Granon S. and Changeux J.-P. (2005) Nicotine reinforcement and cognition restored by targeted expression of nicotinic receptors. Nature 436: 103-107

Modeling cognition

From the mid-1990s, Changeux pursued an activity of computational modeling in order to investigate the basis of cognitive functions. This research did not generally involve his group at the Pasteur institute, but was mainly performed in collaboration with Stanislas Dehaene, now leading the . They modeled for instance the acquisition of song recognition in birdsDehaene S., Changeux J.-P., Nadal J.P. (1987). Neural networks that learn temporal sequences by selection. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84: 2727-2731. or the development of numerical abilities.Dehaene S., Changeux J.-P. (1993). Development of elementary numerical abilities : a neuronal model. J. Cognitive Neurosci 5: 390-407. More recently, Dehaene and Changeux developed a model for access to consciousness based on a brain-wide recruitment of networks of neurons with long-range axons, the global workspace.Dehaene S., Kerszberg M., Changeux J.-P. (1998). A neuronal model of a global workspace in effortful cognitive tasks. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 95: 14529-14534.Dehaene S., Sergent C., Changeux J.-P. (2003) A neuronal network model linking subjective reports and objective physiological data during conscious perception. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 100: 8520-8525.

Public recognition

Scientific prizes and awards

  • 1977: Alexandre-Joannidès prize of the French Academy of Sciences
  • 1978: Gairdner Foundation International Award
  • 1982: Wolf Foundation Prize in Medicine
  • 1982: prize Richard-Lounsbery of the US Academy of Sciences and the French Academy of Sciences
  • 1983: literacy prize Broquette-Gonin of the French academy for the "l’Homme neuronal"
  • 1985: Ciba Geigy Drew Award in Biomedical Research
  • 1986: prize F.-O- Schmitt of the Neursosciences Research Institute.
  • 1988: Rita-Levi-Montalcini prize of the Fidia Foundation
  • 1990: Bristol-Myers-Squibb prize of the Neurosciences Research Institute.
  • 1991: Carl-Gustav-Bernhard medal of the Swedish Academy of Science
  • 1992: Science for Art, Prix d’Honneur LVMH
  • 1992: International Prize Amedeo e Frances Herlitzka for Physiological Sciences
  • 1992: Gold-medal of the French CNRS.
  • 1993: Louis-Jeantet prize for Medicine
  • 1993: Thudichum medal, Biochemical Society
  • 1994: Goodman and Gilman Award in drug receptor pharmacology
  • 1994: Camillo Golgi medal, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei
  • 1994: Sir Hans Krebs medal, FEBS
  • 1996: Max-Delbrück Medal in Molecular Medicine
  • 1997: Great prize of the Foundation for Medical Research, Paris
  • 1997: Prize Jean-Louis Signoret in Neuropsychology, Ipsen Foundation
  • 1998: Prize Emanuel Merck in Chemistry, Darmastadt
  • 1999: Linus Pauling medal, Stanford, US
  • 1999: Eli Lilly award in preclinical Neuroscience, European College of Neuropsychopharmacology
  • 2000: Langley Award for basic research on nicotine and tobacco, Washington
  • 2001: Balzan Prize for Cognitive Neurosciences
  • 2002: American Philosophical Society’s Karl Spencer Lashley Award in neuroscience
  • 2005: Lewis Thomas Prize for Writing about Science
  • 2006: Dart/NYU Biotechnology Award in Basic Biotechnology
  • 2006: Golden Eurydice Award from International Forum of Biophilosophy
  • 2007: NAS Award in the Neurosciences from the National Academy of Sciences
  • 2008: Neuronal plasticity prize, IPSEN Foundation
  • 2008: CINP Pioneer Award
  • 2010: Pasarow Award for "Extraordinary achievements in neuropsychiatric research", Los Angeles