| Citation | Barde’s discovery and characterisation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and the identification of the neurotrophin family ranks as one of the most influential advances in the field of neuroscience of the past half century. He defined the role of BDNF in development and carried out studies that defined key and unexpected roles for neurotrophin receptors, including the pan-neurotrophin receptor’s role as death receptor. Recently, he discovered that the nerve growth factor (NGF) receptor TrkA causes the death of embryonic neurons, thus offering the first explanation for the long known dependency for survival on NGF. |