1903-1997

Australian physiologist who demonstrated the electrical basis of neural inhibition in the polarization of the nerve cell membrane. In the 1950s Eccles described excitatory postsynaptic potential and inverse inhibitory reaction. Eccles believed that inhibition was essential in directing and maintaining neural function. His investigations of the patterns and organization of neural pathways led to his 1964 identification of synaptic inhibitory neurons in the brain. Sir John Eccles shared the 1963 Nobel Prize with Alan Hodgkin and Andrew Huxley.