William T. Greenough

William T. Greenough
Born(1944-10-11)October 11, 1944
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
DiedDecember 8, 2013(2013-12-08) (aged 69)
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Scientific career
FieldsSystems neuroscience
InstitutionsUniversity of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
Notable studentsFred R. Volkmar

William Tallant Greenough (October 11, 1944 – December 18, 2013) was a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. Greenough was a pioneer in studies of neural development and brain plasticity. He studied learning and memory and the brain's responses to environmental enrichment, exercise, injury, and aging. He demonstrated that the brain continues to form new synaptic connections between nerve cells throughout life in response to environmental enrichment and learning.[1] This mechanism is fundamental to learning and memory storage in the brain.[1][2][3][4] Greenough is regarded as the predominant researcher in this area[1] and has been described as "one of the towering figures in neuroscience".[4]

  1. ^ a b c Craighead, W. Edward; Nemeroff, Charles B. (2004). The concise Corsini encyclopedia of psychology and behavioral science. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons. p. 1056. ISBN 978-0-471-22036-7.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference James1996 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Nomination was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Yates, Diana (January 8, 2014). "William T. Greenough, an early explorer of brain plasticity, dies at 69". Illinois News Bureau. Retrieved 13 January 2017. 'Bill was one of the towering figures in neuroscience, not only on this campus but around the world', said Neal J. Cohen, a professor of psychology at Illinois and the director of the Neuroscience Program once led by Greenough.