Obituary – Jan Bureš

Abstract

Presents an obituary of Jan Bures (1926-2012). Jan was born June 13, 1926 in the Czech Republic, and soon after studying medicine, established with Olga Buresova, his wife and lifelong collaborator, the Laboratory of Neurophysiology of Memory in the Institute of Physiology of the Academy of Sciences in Prague. The laboratory was to become internationally renowned as an intellectual oasis and a hub of innovation. Jan Bures had made his mark, first with his doctoral work on epilepsy and then with his seminal research on cortical spreading depression. Jan and Olga brought that phenomenon under experimental control, worked out the mechanism, then by using it to temporarily inactivate brain regions during select phases of learning, they pioneered the concept of a reversible brain lesion that remains central to contemporary attempts to dissect the brain circuits of learning and memory. Jan participated in the famous Moscow Colloquium (1958), and his chapter in the 1960 volume helped bring his work to the attention of a western audience. Jan Bures was the consummate tinkerer. He invented devices, he created experimental paradigms and constructed apparatus, he developed electrophysiological techniques. He wrote important books, and published nearly 500 papers. Jan Bures played a very important role in national and international neuroscience. He participated in the joint Soviet and USA conference that got IBRO going in the early 1960s, then served on its Central and Governing Councils until the late 1990s. Jan Bures received many honors and awards in his lifetime, including election as a Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences (US). Despite his prominence, Jan was always accessible and eagerly accepted virtually every motivated student and opportunity for a new collaboration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)