Stephen William Kuffler (August 24, 1913 – October 11, 1980) was a Hungarian-American neurophysiologist. He is often referred to as the "Father of Modern Neuroscience". Kuffler, alongside noted Nobel Laureates Sir John Eccles and Sir Bernard Katz gave research lectures at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

, strongly influencing its intellectual environment while working at Sydney Hospital. He founded the

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

neurobiology department in 1966, and made numerous seminal contributions to our understanding of

vision Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain und ...

neural coding Neural coding (or neural representation) is a neuroscience field concerned with characterising the hypothetical relationship between the Stimulus (physiology), stimulus and the neuronal responses, and the relationship among the Electrophysiology, e ...

, and the neural implementation of behavior. He is known for his research on

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 ...

s in frogs,

presynaptic inhibition Presynaptic inhibition is a phenomenon in which an inhibitory neuron provides synaptic input to the axon of another neuron ( axo-axonal synapse) to make it less likely to fire an action potential. Presynaptic inhibition occurs when an inhibitory n ...

, and the

neurotransmitter A neurotransmitter is a signaling molecule secreted by a neuron to affect another cell across a Chemical synapse, synapse. The cell receiving the signal, or target cell, may be another neuron, but could also be a gland or muscle cell. Neurotra ...

GABA GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid, γ-aminobutyric acid) is the chief inhibitory neurotransmitter in the developmentally mature mammalian central nervous system. Its principal role is reducing neuronal excitability throughout the nervous system. GA ...

. In 1972, he was awarded the

Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize The Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize for Biology or Biochemistry is an annual prize awarded by Columbia University to a researcher or group of researchers who have made an outstanding contribution in basic research in the fields of biology or biochemist ...

from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

Early Life

Stephen Kuffler was born on August 24, 1913, in

Táp Táp is a village in Győr-Moson-Sopron county, Hungary. In 1588 it was undivided property of Count János Cseszneky and András Farkas, later was in the hands of Cseszneky Cseszneky is a surname of Hungarians, Hungarian origin. Notable people ...

, a village in Hungary. His father, Wilhelm Kuffler, was a landowner living on a large estate. After his mother died when he was five years old, Steve was brought up by governesses at home until he went to a Jesuit boarding school in Austria at the age of ten, where he stayed until 1932

Honors and awards

Kuffler was widely recognized as an original and creative neuroscientist. In addition to numerous prizes, honorary degrees, and special lectureships from countries over the world, he was elected to the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1960,

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

in 1964, the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

as Foreign Member in 1971, and the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 1978. In 1964 he was named the Robert Winthrop professor of neurophysiology and neuropharmacology. From 1966 to 1974 he was the Robert Winthrop professor of neurobiology, and in 1974 he became John Franklin Enders university professor. A detailed, affectionate, and authoritative account of Stephen Kuffler's life and work has been provided by Sir Bernard Katz (''Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society'', vol. 28, pp. 225–59, 1982) and in a book entitled ''Steve, Remembrances of Stephen W. Kuffler, compiled and introduced by U. J. McMahan'' (Sunderland, Mass.: Sinauer Associates, 1990). An account of Kuffler's work is given by Eric R. Kandel, ''In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind'' (New York: Norton, 2006), stating: 'I don't think anyone on the American scene since then has been as influential or as beloved as Steve Kuffler.'

References

External links

Biography by ''The Lancet''

Biographical article
in the ''Journal of Neurology'', 2016.

biographical memoir at the National Academy of Sciences.
The Official Site of Louisa Gross Horwitz PrizeNational Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuffler, Stephen William 1913 births 1980 deaths Harvard University faculty American physiologists American neurologists Hungarian neurologists Hungarian physiologists Hungarian scientists Foreign members of the Royal Society Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Neurophysiologists Hungarian emigrants to the United States Members of the American Philosophical Society Vision scientists

Early Life

Honors and awards

See also

References

External links