Edward Perl
This article may require WP:MOSBIO compliant.(August 2014) ) |
Edward R. Perl | |
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University of North Carolina |
Edward Roy Perl (October 6, 1926 – July 15, 2014) was an American
Early life and military training
Perl was born in Chicago, Illinois to John and Blanche Perl, natives of Hungary and Czechoslovakia, respectively. As a child, Perl was fascinated by electricity, which led to an interest in electronics, radio, and the sciences. In college at the University of Chicago, Perl focused on physics and engineering, but a conversation with his father, who was a physician and surgeon, convinced him to pursue a career in medicine as a means of studying human physiology.
While in college, Perl was accepted into the U.S. Navy's Officer Training Program. He served as a medical trainee at the
Early research career
Perl's first exposure to
In the summer of 1948 Perl had served as a clerk on the
Perl was called to active duty as a naval physician in January, 1952, and served as a medical officer at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, where he joined a neuroscience research group led by David McKenzie Rioch and staffed by Robert Galambos, Michael Fuortes, Walle Nauta, and David Whitlock.[2]: 381
First faculty positions
In 1954 Perl accepted a faculty position at the State University of New York, College of Medicine, Syracuse (now known as
Perl left SUNY-Syracuse in 1957 to join the University of Utah's Department of Physiology, then led by neurophysiologist Carlton C. Hunt. Perl's work at Utah focused on spinothalamic somatosensory pathways and the interactions between primary afferent neurons and spinal dorsal column nuclei.
Beginning in 1962, Perl spent a year in
Documentation of nociceptors
Perl's return to the University of Utah in 1963 marked the beginning of a research interest in primary afferent neurons, which evolved into a focus on
Perl extended these studies to primate, showing the existence of
Central projections of nociceptors and nociceptive spinal circuitry
While still at the University of Utah, Perl and Burgess Christensen, then a post-doctoral fellow, determined that the
Perl continued this work after he left the University of Utah to become chair of the Department of Physiology at the University of North Carolina in 1971. In the mid-1970s Alan R. Light, Miklós Réthelyi, and Daniel Trevino joined Perl's laboratory to further map the central terminations of thinly-myelinated primary afferent neurons, to study their
The last decades of work in the Perl laboratory were principally devoted to characterizing the functional organization of the
Founding of the Society for Neuroscience
At the suggestion of neurophysiologist Ralph W. Gerard, whose idea it was to establish a Society for Neuroscience, Perl chaired a committee of fellow neuroscientists in 1969, the aim of which was to lay the groundwork for the function of the nascent society. As a founding member, Perl was elected president, but chose to take the title of acting president (1969–1970) until a president could be elected democratically by a representative membership. He felt that it was important for the society to attract young investigators who are active in the laboratory.[2]: 399 [29]
Awards and honors
Among other recognitions for his contributions to neuroscience, Perl was awarded the Bristol-Myers Squibb Award for Distinguished Research on Pain in 1991 and the Ralph W. Gerard Prize in Neuroscience in 1998.[30] He was elected a Fellow in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1992.
Establishment of the Perl-UNC Prize
In 2000 Perl endowed a national prize to be given annually to investigators who have made significant contributions to neuroscience through outstanding discoveries or seminal insights. In establishing the
Further reading
- Edward Perl. Edward R. Perl, The History of Neuroscience in Autobiography, Volume 3. Ed. Larry R. Squire. San Diego: Academic Press, 2001. pp. 366–413.
- Edward R. Perl. Ideas about Pain, a Historical View. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 8: 71-80, 2007.
- Edward Perl. Pain Mechanisms: a Commentary on Concepts and Issues. Progress in Neurobiology 94: 20-38, 2011.
References
- ^ "Edward Perl's Obituary by The News & Observer". Legacy.com. 2014-07-27. Retrieved 2014-08-16.
- ^ ISBN 978-0126603057
- ^ Whitehorn WV and Perl ER. "The use of changes in capacity to record volume in human subjects", Science (109): 262–263, 1949
- ^ Bessou P and Perl ER. A movement receptor of the small intestine. J. Physiol. (London) 182:404-426, 1966.
- ^ a b c d Mason P. Placing pain on the sensory map: Classic papers by Ed Perl and colleagues. J. Neurophysiol. 97: 1871-1873, 2007.
- ^ Burgess PR and Perl ER. Myelinated afferent fibres responding specifically to noxious stimulation of the skin. J. Physiol. (London) 190: 541-562, 1967.
- ^ Iggo A. Cutaneous heat and cold receptors with slowly conducting (C) afferent fibres. Q. J. Exp. Physiol. Cogn. Med. Sci. 44: P362-P370, 1959.
- ^ Perl ER. Myelinated afferent fibres innervating the primate skin and their response to noxious stimuli. J. Physiol. (London) 197: 593-615, 1968.
- ^ Bessou P and Perl ER. Response of cutaneous sensory units with unmyelinated fibers to noxious stimuli. J. Neurophysiol. 32: 1025-1043, 1969.
- ^ Kruger L, Perl ER, and Sedivec MJ. Fine structure of myelinated mechanical nociceptor endings in cat hairy skin. J. Comp. Neurol. 198: 137-154, 1981.
- ^ Konietzny F, Perl ER, Trevino D, Light A, and Hensel H. Sensory experiences in man evoked by intraneural electrical stimulation of intact cutaneous afferent fibers. Exp. Br. Res. 42: 219-222, 1981.
- ^ Christensen BN and Perl ER. Spinal neurons specifically excited by noxious or thermal stimuli: marginal zone of the dorsal horn. J. Neurophysiol. 33: 293-307, 1970.
- ^ Kumazawa T and Perl ER. Primary cutaneous receptors with unmyelinated (C) fibres and their projection to the substantia gelatinosa. J. Physiol. (Paris) 73: 287-304, 1977.
- ^ Kumazawa T and Perl ER, Primary cutaneous sensory units with unmyelinated (C) afferent fibers. J. Neurophysiol. 40: 1325-1338, 1977.
- ^ Kumazawa T and Perl ER. Excitation of marginal and substantia gelatinosa neurons in the primate spinal cord: indications of their place in dorsal horn functional organization. J. Comp. Neurol. 177: 417-434, 1978.
- ^ Light AR and Perl ER. Differential termination of large-diameter and small-diameter primary afferent fibers in the spinal dorsal gray matter as indicated by labeling with horseradish peroxidase. Neurosci. Lett. 6: 59-63, 1977.
- ^ Light AR and Perl ER. Reexamination of the dorsal root projection to the spinal dorsal horn including observations on the differential termination of coarse and fine fibers. J. Comp. Neurol. 186: 117-131, 1979.
- ^ Light AR and Perl ER. Spinal termination of functionally identified primary afferent neurons with slowly conducting myelinated fibers. J. Comp. Neurol. 186: 133-150, 1979.
- ^ Light AR, Trevino DL, and Perl ER. Morphological features of functionally defined neurons in the marginal zone and substantia gelatinosa of the spinal dorsal horn. J. Comp. Neurol. 186: 151-171, 1979.
- ^ Réthelyi M, Light AR, and Perl ER. Synaptic complexes formed by functionally defined primary afferent units with fine myelinated fibers. J. Comp. Neurol. 207: 381-393, 1982.
- ^ Sugiura Y, Lee CL, and Perl, ER. Central projections of identified, unmyelinated (C) afferent fibers innervating mammalian skin. Science 234: 358-361, 1986.
- ^ Honda CN, Mense S, and Perl ER. Neurons in the ventrobasal region of the cat thalamus selectively responsive to strong mechanical stimulation. J. Neurophysiol. 49: 662-678, 1983.
- ^ Grudt TJ and Perl ER. Correlations between neuronal morphology and electrophysiological features in the rodent superficial dorsal horn. J. Physiol. (London) 540: 189-207, 2002.
- ^ Lu Y and Perl ER. A specific inhibitory pathway between substantia gelatinosa neurons receiving direct C-fiber input. J. Neurosci. 23: 8752-8758, 2003.
- ^ Lu Y and Perl ER. Modular organization of excitatory circuits between neurons of the spinal superficial dorsal horn (laminae I and II). J. Neurosci. 25: 3900-3907, 2005.
- ^ Zheng J, Lu Y, and Perl ER. Inhibitory neurones of the spinal substantia gelatinosa mediate interaction of signals from primary afferents. J. Physiol. (London) 588: 2065-2075, 2010.
- ^ Hantman AW, van den Pol AN, and Perl ER. Morphological and physiological features of a set of spinal substantia gelatinosa neurons defined by green fluorescent protein expression. J. Neurosci. 24: 836-842, 2004.
- ^ Hantman AW and Perl ER. Molecular and genetic features of a labeled class of spinal substantia gelatinosa neurons in a transgenic mouse. J. Comp. Neurol. 492: 90-100, 2005.
- ^ Perl, Edward. "Society for Neuroscience -- A History of Beginnings," In: The Society for Neuroscience's Neuroscience Newsletter 17(4): 2-5, 1986.
- ^ Spector, B. People: Fourth Bristol-Myers Squibb Pain Award is Presented to UNC Nociceptor Pioneer. The Scientist, 20 January 1992.
- ^ Lang, Les. National Prize in Neuroscience Endowed by UNC-CH Professor. UNC News Service Press Release, 14 January 2000, No. 18.
External links
- Edward R. Perl's entry at Neurotree.
- Perl-UNC Prize at UNC Neuroscience Center.