Three win Nobel Prize for study of brain function.

Scientists' work with neurotransmitters cited

THREE SCIENTISTS WERE AWARDED THE Nobel Prize for medicine recently for illuminating not only how the brain works, but for further identifying the underlying causes of memory and of many mental illnesses, researchers say.

Their work with neurotransmitters--the message-carrying chemicals that brain cells use to communicate with one another--showed just how complex the brain is, Dr. Steven Hyman, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, reportedly said.

Paul Greengard of New York's Rockefeller University, Eric Kandel of Columbia University, also in New York, and Swede Arvid Carlsson, formerly of the University of Gothenburg, share the nearly $1 million award, announced by Sweden's Karotinska Institute.

"This prize recognizes work that is critical for understanding the higher function of the brain, the complexity of the brain, and ultimately our ability to store memories," Hyman reportedly said, who added that his institute had helped fund the work of Greengard and Kandel for more than 30 years.

"I am delighted that three neuroscientists have been recognized this year for their seminal contributions to our understanding of how signals are communicated between nerve cells," Dr. Story Landis, director of Intramural Research for the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), another of the National Institutes of Health that funded their work, said in a statement.

"Each has provided an essential link in establishing the cascade of biochemical reactions within nerve cells by which neurotransmitters alter nervous system function. Further, their studies clearly establish the relationship between molecules and behavior. This adds up to tremendous leaps in our understanding of how the human mind learns and remembers, paving the way to advances in treating a host of neurological and psychiatric disorders."