THERE IS LIFE AFTER THE NOBEL PRIZE

A prizewinning neuroscientist refuses to rest on his laurels.

In 1996, Kandel (b. 1929), professor of brain science at Columbia, learned that colleagues at the National Institute of Mental Health predicted that his work would win the Nobel Prize. Told the news, his wife responded, “I hope not yet,” before pointing out that winners mostly stop contributing to science, becoming preoccupied with ceremonial and social activities. After hearing the 2000 announcement that he had won the prize—for his discovery of how short- and long-term memories form in the brain—Kandel vowed to prove to her “that I am not yet dead intellectually, at least not completely.” In describing his activities over the following 20 years, the author makes a strong case that he was correct. Continuing his groundbreaking studies, he explored how memories are stored and how brain function changes due to disease. He emphasizes that in the days before sophisticated brain-imaging technology, psychiatric disorders produced no detectable damage, so “neurological disorders were viewed as affecting the brain, whereas psychiatric disorders were viewed as affecting the mind.” This led to numerous stigmas regarding mental illness. Today, it’s obvious that mental illness is brain disease, and “psychotherapy is a biological treatment, a brain therapy. It produces physical changes that can be detected with brain imaging.” These advances have also allowed Kandel and other neuroscientists to perform cutting-edge studies of creativity and consciousness. During the past two decades, the author also helped organize—and served as co-host of—three popular PBS brain science series, which ran from 2009 to 2017. Kandel also became an unexpected media figure in Austria, from which his Jewish parents fled in 1938 when the Nazis arrived. In speaking engagements, the author has discussed creativity and his special interest in fin de siècle Viennese art and psychotherapy, and he has also promoted symposiums to explore the disgraceful enthusiasm with which Austrians embraced Nazism.

A short, cheerful memoir from an energetic Nobel laureate.