Jan Born (born March 30, 1958, in Celle, Germany) is a

neuroscientist A neuroscientist (or neurobiologist) is a scientist who has specialised knowledge in neuroscience, a branch of biology that deals with the physiology, biochemistry, psychology, anatomy and molecular biology of neurons, neural circuits, and glial ...

who researches the role of

sleep Sleep is a sedentary state of mind and body. It is characterized by altered consciousness, relatively inhibited sensory activity, reduced muscle activity and reduced interactions with surroundings. It is distinguished from wakefulness by a de ...

memory consolidation Memory consolidation is a category of processes that stabilize a memory trace after its initial acquisition. A memory trace is a change in the nervous system caused by memorizing something. Consolidation is distinguished into two specific processe ...

, problem solving, and brain plasticity. He is Head of the Institute of Medical Psychology and the Behavioral Neurobiology department at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-W� ...

. Born serves as the Deputy Editor of

SLEEP Sleep is a sedentary state of mind and body. It is characterized by altered consciousness, relatively inhibited sensory activity, reduced muscle activity and reduced interactions with surroundings. It is distinguished from wakefulness by a de ...

, the Section Editor of

Neurobiology of Learning and Memory ''Neurobiology of Learning and Memory'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering neuroscience as it pertains to the processes of learning and memory. It was established in 1968 as ''Communications in Behavioral Biology Part A''. I ...

, and the Associate Editor of the Journal of Sleep Research. In 1988 Born received the Marius Tausk-Award from the German Society for Endocrinology. In 2010 he received the Leibniz Award of the

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft The German Research Foundation (german: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft ; DFG ) is a German research funding organization, which functions as a self-governing institution for the promotion of science and research in the Federal Republic of Germ ...

. In 2017, he received the Oswald-Külpe Award, with the award citation emphasizing that in his "very innovative studies, he was able to prove that it is not REM sleep, but deep sleep that is crucial for the transmission of information to the long-term memory of the brain and thus for memory formation." Born is a member of the

Academy of Sciences Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (german: Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften), short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded ...

Biography

Born studied psychology, mathematics, and medicine at the University of Tübingen and the

University of Ulm Ulm University (german: Universität Ulm) is a public university in Ulm, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1967 and focuses on natural sciences, medicine, engineering sciences, mathematics, economics and computer sci ...

from 1976 to 1980. He was a research fellow from 1980 to 1981 in the Department of Biological Psychology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He attended the University of Tübingen, where he obtained his Ph.D. in psychology in 1985. As a graduate student, Born investigated the use of potential-related events in studying brain function in humans. After completing his doctorate, Born completed his habilitation in psychology at the University of Ulm (1985-1989). Born was professor of physiological psychology at the Otto-Friedrich-University Bamberg (1989–1998) and professor of neuroendocrinology at the University of Lübeck (1999–2010) before joining the faculty of the

as chair of medical psychology in 2010. Born's work has been supported by

and by the

Federal Ministry of Education and Research The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (german: link=no, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, ), abbreviated BMBF, is a cabinet-level ministry of Germany. It is headquartered in Bonn, with an office in Berlin. The Ministry provi ...

Research

Born researches and publishes in the field of memory formation during sleep. He was one of the first researchers to show that sleep was causally related to memory. He showed that procedural memories are not consolidated by REM sleep, as has been previously assumed. Instead, he showed that procedural memories are improved when REM sleep is pharmacologically suppressed. Born found that

slow-wave sleep Slow-wave sleep (SWS), often referred to as deep sleep, consists of stage three of non-rapid eye movement sleep. It usually lasts between 70 and 90 minutes and takes place during the first hours of the night. Initially, SWS consisted of both St ...

reactivates recently encoded memories while REM sleep stabilizes them. As well, his research demonstrated that slow-wave sleep actually consolidates immunological memories (it helps the immune system to identify

antigen In immunology, an antigen (Ag) is a molecule or molecular structure or any foreign particulate matter or a pollen grain that can bind to a specific antibody or T-cell receptor. The presence of antigens in the body may trigger an immune respons ...

s) as well as psychological memories. He also found that sleep especially assists in consolidating memories that involve a promise of reward. His other work focuses on the metabolic and behavioral control of body weight.

Representative Publications

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References

External links

Faculty Home PageGoogle Scholar Profile
* German Wikipedia Biography {{DEFAULTSORT:Born, Jan German neuroscientists Neuropsychologists Academic staff of the University of Tübingen Living people 1958 births