James H Schwartz, MD PhD
SFDukie
Posts: 618 ✭
who conducted ground breaking research on learning and memory at Columbia, died this month. I was familiar with his research contributions (very elegant studies for which his coinvestigator, Eric Kandel, received the 2000 nobel prize- he coauthored the most widely used basic neuroscience text and was a fellow in the AAAS) but until I read his obituary this week, I was unaware that he was a numistmatist. He was interested in coinage of the Vandals, published articles on ancient coinage, and was a trustee for the American Numismatic Society.
From the NY Times obtuary:
"Also a scholar of ancient coinage and medals, Dr. Schwartz collected and studied coins and gems from antiquity and published papers in the journal of the American Numismatic Society. Broadly interested in contacts between Greco-Roman and barbarian cultures, he specialized in collecting and describing coins struck by the Vandals in northern Africa in the fifth century.
In addition, he studied gems and amulets, most originating in Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean and dating from the second to the fourth centuries. Many were thought to have magical or curative properties.
Dr. Schwartz's research on these artifacts was "an attempt to grasp man's perception of his role in a world he did not understand," said William E. Metcalf, curator of coins and medals at the Yale University Art Gallery.
In 2000, Dr. Schwartz raised concerns about the Numismatic Society's plans to move from its home on 155th Street in Manhattan to a site downtown and to offer buyouts to the curatorial staff. To balance a budget deficit, the society moved to Fulton Street. Dr. Schwartz helped raise money for the society and was named a trustee in 2002. He was also a fellow at Columbia's Center for the Ancient Mediterranean."
From the NY Times obtuary:
"Also a scholar of ancient coinage and medals, Dr. Schwartz collected and studied coins and gems from antiquity and published papers in the journal of the American Numismatic Society. Broadly interested in contacts between Greco-Roman and barbarian cultures, he specialized in collecting and describing coins struck by the Vandals in northern Africa in the fifth century.
In addition, he studied gems and amulets, most originating in Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean and dating from the second to the fourth centuries. Many were thought to have magical or curative properties.
Dr. Schwartz's research on these artifacts was "an attempt to grasp man's perception of his role in a world he did not understand," said William E. Metcalf, curator of coins and medals at the Yale University Art Gallery.
In 2000, Dr. Schwartz raised concerns about the Numismatic Society's plans to move from its home on 155th Street in Manhattan to a site downtown and to offer buyouts to the curatorial staff. To balance a budget deficit, the society moved to Fulton Street. Dr. Schwartz helped raise money for the society and was named a trustee in 2002. He was also a fellow at Columbia's Center for the Ancient Mediterranean."
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<< <i>who conducted ground breaking research on learning and memory at Columbia, died this month. I was familiar with his research contributions (very elegant studies for which his coinvestigator, Eric Kandel, ... >>
Coinvestigator - funny how the mind works. I go to a coin website, read this and first reading saw coin-vestigator rather than the co-investigator as it is intended.
Seriously, it's amazing the quality of people in this hobby - and with a few exceptions, I have found them to be approachable and willing to share knowledge ( Exhibit A - this message board).
<< <i>I sorry to read about his passing. What type of memory/learning research was he involved in? Any links available? I will hunt and see what I can find too. >>
His best known research involved working out the specifics of the gill withdrawal reflex in a sea slug-aplysia californica. Basically, these slugs will withdraw their gills and siphon when touched-and this reflex can be strengthened by pairing the touch with a noxious stimulus , will habituate (if touched repeatedly yet nothing bad happens to the slug, they stop withdrawing their gill) and can undergo associative conditioning (a la Pavlov's dogs associating the sound of a bell with food) etc. Aplysia has a very simple nervous system where the connections between neurons are well understood, and the neurons are very large-making them more easily studied. Dr. Schwartz worked out many details of learning and memory in these slugs-including showing the neurotransmitter and second messengers involved in habituation of the gill withdrawal reflex. Prior to some of his work with Eric Kandel, no one had ever demonstrated specifically and mechanistically how a specific learned behavior becomes a permanent memory.
Lab link:
columbia link:
Don