Brazilian Native and Duke University Professor of Neuroscience Miguel A.L. Nicolelis was named by Pope Benedict XVI as a Member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

Founded in 1603 in Rome, the Pontifical Academy of Science was the first scientific academy of the world, haviing as one its historic members Galileo Galilei.

Actually, the institution counts close to 80 academics of various parts of the world, nominated by the Pope, under indication of the academic body, without any type of discrimination. The objective of the institution is to promote the research and to examine scientific questions of interest to the Church.

Biography
Professor Miguel A.L. Nicolelis was born in 1961 in Sao Paulo, Brazil and was trained in medicine and 1concluded his doctorate in Neurophysiology in the University of Sao Paulo (USP). Actually, he is  professor of Neuroscience at Duke University, in Durham, North Carolina; Central Co-ordinator of Duke Neuroengineering; co-founder and Scientific director of the International Institute Lily Safra for Neuroscience in Natal, Brazil.

Miguel Nicolelis was pioneer in the development and implementation of a new neuro-physical method, known today as chronic recordings, multi-site with multi-electrodes, opening a new area of study in Neurophysics.

In particular, this new area is concentrated in the measurement of simultaneous neural activity and of the interactions of great populations of neurons in all of the brain.

Although more known for his pioneering studies in brain/machine interface and neural prostetics in human patients and other primates, he also developed an interactive approach in the study of neurological and psychiatric diseases, including Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, Schizophrenia and disorders associated with attention deficit.

He worked also in the field of senorial plasticity, of taste,hearing and rewards and learning. His work influenced the basic search and that application in the areas of computers, robotics and biomedical engineering.

He is a member of the French and Brazilian Academies of Science and the author of more than 150 manuscripts and editor of various publications, including books, and special editions for journals, and he received various international prizes.

from Canção Nova (New Song) News

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