| Citation | Pasko Rakic’s seminal discoveries and hypotheses underpin current thinking about the prenatal development and evolution of the mammalian (including human) cerebral cortex, and the origin of developmental disorders. His radial unit hypothesis, based on the finding that radial glial cells guide the migration of neurons into the developing cortex, was the key to understanding how the cortex is generated. His work on the developing visual pathway was central to the concepts of axonal competition, over-production and selective elimination of synapses in the developing brain. His contribution was recognised by award of the first Kavli Neuroscience Prize in 2008. |