Jean-Pierre Changeux | |
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| Born | 6 April 1936 Domont, France |
| Alma mater | École Normale Supérieure Pasteur Institute |
| Known for | MWC model, isolation of nAChR |
| Spouse | Annie Dupont (m. 1962) |
| Children | 1 son |
| Awards | Wolf Prize in Medicine (1982) Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine (1993)[1] Sir Hans Krebs Medal (1994) Balzan Prize (2001) Albert Einstein World Award of Science (2018) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Neuroscience |
| Institutions | Collège de France Institut Pasteur |
| Doctoral advisors | Jacques Monod, François Jacob |
Jean-Pierre Changeux (French: [ʃɑ̃ʒø]; born 6 April 1936) is a French neuroscientist known for his research in several fields of biology, from the structure and function of proteins (with a focus on the allosteric proteins), to the early development of the nervous system up to cognitive functions. Although being famous in biological sciences for the MWC model, the identification and purification of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor and the theory of epigenesis by synapse selection are also notable scientific achievements. Changeux is known by the non-scientific public for his ideas regarding the connection between mind and physical brain. As put forth in his book, Conversations on Mind, Matter and Mathematics, Changeux strongly supports the view that the nervous system functions in a projective rather than reactive style and that interaction with the environment, rather than being instructive, results in the selection amongst a diversity of preexisting internal representations.