David C. Van Essen (born September 14, 1945) is an American

neuroscientist A neuroscientist (or neurobiologist) is a scientist specializing in neuroscience that deals with the anatomy and function of neurons, Biological neural network, neural circuits, and glia, and their Behavior, behavioral, biological, and psycholo ...

specializing in

neurobiology Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions, and its disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, ...

and studies the structure, function, development, connectivity and evolution of the cerebral cortex of humans and nonhuman relatives. After over two decades of teaching at the Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, he currently serves as an Alumni Endowed Professor of Neuroscience and maintains an active laboratory. Van Essen has held numerous positions, including Editor-in-Chief of the

Journal of Neuroscience ''The Journal of Neuroscience'' is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Society for Neuroscience. It covers empirical research on all aspects of neuroscience. Its editor-in-chief is Sabine Kastner (Princeton University), who su ...

, Secretary of the

Society for Neuroscience The Society for Neuroscience (SfN) is a professional society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., for basic scientists and physicians around the world whose research is focused on the study of the brain and nervous system. It is especially well k ...

, and the President of the Society for Neuroscience from 2006 to 2007. Additionally, Van Essen has received numerous awards for his efforts in education and science, including the Krieg Cortical Discoverer Award from the Cajal Club in 2002, the Peter Raven Lifetime Achievement Award from St. Louis Academy of Science in 2007, and the Second Century Award in 2015 and the Distinguished Educator Award in 2017, both from Washington University School of Medicine. A key contributor to the understanding of the primate visual system, he created one of the most well-known maps of the visual pathway in the primate cortex with Dr. Daniel J. Felleman, based on anatomical tracing. This study laid the groundwork for understanding cortical systems in general as hierarchical circuits.

Education

Van Essen received his undergraduate degree in

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

in 1967 from The California Institute of Technology, working on the leech nervous system with John Nichols. He received his doctoral degree in Neurobiology in 1971 from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and continued as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University under

David H. Hubel David Hunter Hubel (February 27, 1926 – September 22, 2013) was an American Canadian neurophysiologist noted for his studies of the structure and function of the visual cortex. He was co-recipient with Torsten Wiesel of the 1981 Nobel Pr ...

and

Torsten Wiesel Torsten Nils Wiesel (born 3 June 1924) is a Swedish Neurophysiology, neurophysiologist. With David H. Hubel, he received the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for their discoveries concerning information processing in the visual system; ...

where they studied the visual cortex of cats. This experience led Van Essen to study visual systems. Van Essen continued to pursue additional postdoctoral work at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

and at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

where he studied the visual cortex of monkeys and developed a "pencil and tracing paper" method to make 2D cortical flat maps.

Research career

Following his postdoctoral education, David Van Essen joined the faculty at The California Institute of Technology in 1976. Following his time at Caltech, Van Essen then moved to Washington University in St. Louis in 1992, where he served as the Head of the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology for two decades. Van Essen stepped down from this position in 2012. His earlier research included studies of simpler systems, including

synapse In the nervous system, a synapse is a structure that allows a neuron (or nerve cell) to pass an electrical or chemical signal to another neuron or a target effector cell. Synapses can be classified as either chemical or electrical, depending o ...

elimination at the

neuromuscular junction A neuromuscular junction (or myoneural junction) is a chemical synapse between a motor neuron and a muscle fiber. It allows the motor neuron to transmit a signal to the muscle fiber, causing muscle contraction. Muscles require innervation to ...

. Van Essen has hypothesized that tension along axons and dendrites accounts for many aspects of

morphogenesis Morphogenesis (from the Greek ''morphê'' shape and ''genesis'' creation, literally "the generation of form") is the biological process that causes a cell, tissue or organism to develop its shape. It is one of three fundamental aspects of deve ...

, including how and why the cortex gets its folds and how cortical folding abnormalities arise in

brain disorders Neurological disorders represent a complex array of medical conditions that fundamentally disrupt the functioning of the nervous system. These disorders affect the brain, spinal cord, and nerve networks, presenting unique diagnosis, treatment, and ...

Current research

Van Essen is employed at Washington University in St. Louis and manages a lab that examines the structure, function, connectivity, development, and evolution of the

cerebral cortex The cerebral cortex, also known as the cerebral mantle, is the outer layer of neural tissue of the cerebrum of the brain in humans and other mammals. It is the largest site of Neuron, neural integration in the central nervous system, and plays ...

in both humans and primates. His current research focuses primarily on cortical structure and function in disease models, such as

autism Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...

schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...

, and William Syndrome. With the use of neuroanatomical data collected through collaboration by Washington University and other private institutions, Van Essen's research has enhanced the development and utilization of different methods used in computerized brain mapping and

neuroinformatics Neuroinformatics is the emergent field that combines informatics and neuroscience. Neuroinformatics is related with neuroscience data and information processing by artificial neural networks. There are three main directions where neuroinformatics ...

to enhance data findings and analysis. While Van Essen's cortical cartography methods began with manually-generated maps, this area of research has developed into the novel usage of software tools for brain visualization. David Van Essen also led the

Human Connectome Project The Human Connectome Project (HCP) was a five-year project (later extended to 10 years) sponsored by sixteen components of the National Institutes of Health, split between two consortia of research institutions. The project was launched in July 20 ...

(HCP) as the Principal Investigator together with Co-Principal Investigator Kamil Ugurbil; HCP is a 5-year project designed to map the human brain circuitry. This project uses various methods, such as structural and functional imaging methods, to analyze parcellation and connectivity of both human and nonhuman brains. Through the usage of over 1,200 brain models, the project allows researchers to relate their findings to behavioral phenotypes and genetic markers. Most recently, in collaboration with the HCP, th
Van Essen lab
has identified many visual areas in the

macaque monkey The macaques () constitute a genus (''Macaca'') of gregarious Old World monkeys of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. The 23 species of macaques inhabit ranges throughout Asia, North Africa, and Europe (in Gibraltar). Macaques are principally frug ...

and has characterized a novel parcellation of the human

neocortex The neocortex, also called the neopallium, isocortex, or the six-layered cortex, is a set of layers of the mammalian cerebral cortex involved in higher-order brain functions such as sensory perception, cognition, generation of motor commands, ...

. This research has greatly advanced the current understanding of the hierarchical organization of the brain. Additionally, with a leading role in the HCP's development, the Van Essen lab is creating a Connectome Workbench for data to be freely available and stored. Van Essen's laboratory also collaborates with Terrie Inder, Jeff Neil, Jason Hill, and other affiliates to conduct research on human cortical development. Here, the research team studies human cortical development in premature and mature infants to analyze normal cortical maturation and find cortical abnormalities that correspond to childhood developmental abnormalities. Additionally, Van Essen and his team have developed a data mining resource called SumsDB. This database, which features an extensive and accessible data repository, includes freely available results from both

PET A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive/ cute appearances, inte ...

and

fMRI Functional magnetic resonance imaging or functional MRI (fMRI) measures brain activity by detecting changes associated with blood flow. This technique relies on the fact that cerebral blood flow and neuronal activation are coupled. When an area o ...

scans.

Contributions

David Van Essen's contributions towards the neurobiology field focus on the central nervous system as well as data sharing. His contributions to the Human Connectome Project provides the mapping of the brain and widespread sharing of the project to promote

. More specifically, the Connectome Workbench has provided a user-friendly platform in order to access various levels of data. Furthermore, while participating in the Society for Neuroscience, Van Essen contributed to the Neuroinformatics Committee. While the committee existed only five years, the subfield continues to grow in recognition and importance. Van Essen has contributed to mapping cortical convolutions; first by hand, then computerizing the process leading to the development of computerized cortical cartography.

Selected publications

David Van Essen's most cited publications are referenced below: * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Essen, David 1945 births California Institute of Technology alumni Harvard University alumni American neuroscientists Living people Washington University in St. Louis faculty California Institute of Technology faculty Presidents of the Society for Neuroscience