Arvid Carlsson

Facts

Arvid Carlsson

Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.

Arvid Carlsson
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2000

Born: 25 January 1923, Uppsala, Sweden

Died: 29 June 2018, Gothenburg, Sweden

Affiliation at the time of the award: Göteborg University, Gothenburg, Sweden

Prize motivation: “for their discoveries concerning signal transduction in the nervous system”

Prize share: 1/3

Life

Arvid Carlsson was born in Uppsala, Sweden, to parents who were both academics. He grew up in Lund, where his father had become a professor of history. Carlsson studied medicine and pharmacology at Lund University, where he later conducted his Nobel Prize-awarded research. He became a professor of pharmacology at the University of Gothenburg in 1959. Carlsson is married with five children, including daughter Maria, with whom he has conducted research.

Work

The body functions of man and animals are controlled by electric and chemical signals between the cells in our nervous system. Contacts between cells are called synapses, and special substances, called neurotransmitters, send the signals. Carlsson discovered a neurotransmitter called dopamine in the brain and described its role in our ability to move. This led to the realization that Parkinson's disease is caused by a lack of dopamine, allowing for the development of drugs for the disease.

To cite this section
MLA style: Arvid Carlsson – Facts. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2024. Thu. 21 Nov 2024. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2000/carlsson/facts/>

Back to top Back To Top Takes users back to the top of the page

Nobel Prizes and laureates

Six prizes were awarded for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. The 12 laureates' work and discoveries range from proteins' structures and machine learning to fighting for a world free of nuclear weapons.

See them all presented here.

Illustration

Explore prizes and laureates

Look for popular awards and laureates in different fields, and discover the history of the Nobel Prize.