Pioneering Neuroscientist Dies

Marian Diamond, a former University of California, Berkeley, professor, discovered the first evidence for neuroplasticity and studied Einstein’s brain.

| 2 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
2:00
Share

Diamond with a preserved human brainELENA ZHUKOVA

Marian Cleeves Diamond, a neuroscientist who discovered that the brain was malleable to life experiences, died on July 25 at the age of 90.

In the 1960s, Diamond’s experiments with rats revealed that animals raised in enriched cages were better able to navigate mazes and had thicker cerebral cortices than rodents that grew up with impoverished surroundings. This discovery came at a time when most scientists believed that nature, rather than nurture, was the key factor that shaped the brain.

“The idea that the brain could change based on environmental input and stimulation was felt to be silly,” Robert Knight, a University of California, Berkeley, (UCB) professor of psychology and neuroscience, tells the Washington Post. “And that’s the boat she completely sunk.”

Diamond is also ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Keywords

Meet the Author

  • Diana Kwon

    Diana is a freelance science journalist who covers the life sciences, health, and academic life.
Share
3D illustration of a gold lipid nanoparticle with pink nucleic acid inside of it. Purple and teal spikes stick out from the lipid bilayer representing polyethylene glycol.
February 2025, Issue 1

A Nanoparticle Delivery System for Gene Therapy

A reimagined lipid vehicle for nucleic acids could overcome the limitations of current vectors.

View this Issue
Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Lonza
An illustration of animal and tree silhouettes.

From Water Bears to Grizzly Bears: Unusual Animal Models

Taconic Biosciences
Sex Differences in Neurological Research

Sex Differences in Neurological Research

bit.bio logo
New Frontiers in Vaccine Development

New Frontiers in Vaccine Development

Sino

Products

Tecan Logo

Tecan introduces Veya: bringing digital, scalable automation to labs worldwide

Explore a Concise Guide to Optimizing Viral Transduction

A Visual Guide to Lentiviral Gene Delivery

Takara Bio
Inventia Life Science

Inventia Life Science Launches RASTRUM™ Allegro to Revolutionize High-Throughput 3D Cell Culture for Drug Discovery and Disease Research

An illustration of differently shaped viruses.

Detecting Novel Viruses Using a Comprehensive Enrichment Panel

Twist Bio