Prof. Haim Sompolinsky of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has been awarded the Brain Prize for 2024, the largest and most prestigious international prize for brain research. The prize is awarded annually by the Lundbeck Foundation of Denmark.

Sompolinsky, who is also affiliated with Harvard University, is a physicist and pioneer in the field of theoretical and computational neuroscience, particularly in the study of neural circuit dynamics in the brain. His research has significantly contributed to understanding how neural circuits process and encode information, map the external world, and participate in learning and memory.

Sompolinsky shares the annual prize totaling 1.3 million euros ($1.4 million) with Prof. Larry Abbott of Columbia University and Prof. Terrence Sejnowski of the Salk Institute, who are also widely recognized for their groundbreaking work in computational and theoretical neuroscience, which applies physics, mathematics and statistics as tools for studying the brain and how it functions.

Haims work over more than 40 years has been instrumental in establishing theoretical and computational neuroscience as a cornerstone of modern brain research, said Richard Morris, chair of The Brain Prize selection committee.

Sompolinsky will be presented the Brain Prize medal by King Frederik on May 30 in Copenhagen, where he was born in 1949. The son of Danish and Hungarian Holocaust survivors who met in Sweden after the war, he is the third of 10 children, and the last to be born in Denmark before his family immigrated to Israel.

During the war, his father, Prof. David Sompolinsky, worked with the Danish Resistance to save 700 co-religionists from extermination by the Nazis, by arranging their escape to Sweden in October 1943.

Haim Sompolinsky as a young boy with his teacher, Rishon Lezion, 1954. (Courtesy of Sompolinsky family)

When asked whether his fathers work as a microbiologist inspired him to become a scientist, Sompolinsky said that while it is hard to know why someone goes into one profession or another, his father undoubtedly was an inspiration. The elder Sompolinsky modeled how a person could combine Orthodox Jewish observance with a deep love of science.

My fathers big library in our living room was a complete chaotic mix of Talmud, Torah and books of Jewish law. In the middle of this were books about mathematics, microbiology and physics. To me, it was a place where I could just pick up a book and read, Sompolinsky recalled.

There was no conflict between religious observance and a professional life in the sciences. I think I inherited from him the idea of leading a coherent lifestyle. I think that being a scientist enriches my religious experiences and insights and vice versa, he said.

In the following interview, edited for length and clarity, The Times of Israel asked Sompolinsky about how theoretical and computational neuroscience helps us understand the brain, where he sees the field going and his reaction to receiving the worlds largest prize for brain research.

The Times of Israel: Why did you decide to pursue research in neuroscience in particular?

Prof. Haim Sompolinsky: It was a matter of personal choice. Many of my physicist colleagues who, like me, worked on the theory of spin glasses branched out to problems in the areas of economics and other complex systems in physics. Some went into the fields of biochemistry or biophysics. For me, neuroscience and the brain presented a very attractive set of problems. Throughout my career, I have always chosen problems that I think are intellectually interesting and worthwhile. It was natural for me to go in the direction of neuroscience because there was a mesh between my interest in the problems and my abilities to contribute to [understanding] them.

Haim Sompolinsky and his wife Elisheva with their family on vacation in Holland, 2016. (Courtesy of Sompolinsky family)

Were you motivated by a desire to find cures for specific neurological diseases?

When we work on basic research, we all hope that it will contribute in the long run to the benefit of humanity, whether it is health, ecology, climate, energy or whatever. But Im a basic scientist and my area of excellence is thinking more about principles and fundamental problems. I dont think Id be very good at applied research, where the details and the short-term goals dominate the thinking and research. My primary interest has been to contribute to understanding the principles of brain function.

Brain research has different levels. Can you explain what these levels are in laymans terms?

People are more familiar with the experimental and empirical aspects of neuroscience. First, there is the molecular level. People often read about discoveries of genes or molecules in the brain. Then there is cellular neuroscience. There is very active and fascinating research in this area, including on the properties of single nerve cells and other cells in the brain aside from neurons.

Then comes the level of circuits, and above it the level of systems. Most of the work in theoretical and computational neuroscience is at the level of circuits and above. We dont study the theoretical principles of molecular neuroscience because, at the level of principles, molecular neuroscience is very similar to molecular biology. The DNA and the expression of proteins in molecules in brain cells are the same as in any other setting in the body. On the other hand, the circuit level is what is unique about the brain and more directly related to computation.

What are some examples of what we can understand by studying brain circuits and systems?

You can ask how a circuit stores information or how it encodes or retrieves memories. You can ask how the visual system in the brain performs cognitive functions associated with vision perception. How do we recognize somebody simply from visual signals? The primary focus of theoretical and computational neuroscience science is to try to understand the relation between the structure of the neurocircuits and the dynamics of the activation of the neurons and the function that comes out of it.

Hebrew University theoretical and computational neuroscientist professor Haim Sompolinsky with junior colleagues in Jerusalem, 2014. (Courtesy of Sompolinsky family)

Do theoretical and computational neuroscientists work on their own, or do they interact with neuroscientists who work in the lab?

Our goal is to make sense of experimental results and even make predictions about what can be expected based on our theoretical models. If you have a good idea, you have to be able to translate it to a concrete model, which means mathematical equations and algorithms and analyzing them. Then you can approach an experimentalist and say, hey, I have a great idea, and here are the predictions and lets see if they are right. By working this way with the experimentalist, we advanced the understanding of the brain.

What do you think will be the legacy that you and other pioneers in theoretical and computational neuroscience will leave to the next generation?

There are several legacies. Ill mention just a couple. First, I think we succeeded in establishing solid foundations based on physics and mathematics for theoretical neuroscience, which will largely remain relevant for future generations. What we started as research is now part of textbooks in the field.

Second, I believe the interdisciplinary nature of brain science research that developed due to our efforts will remain forever. Brain science is no longer just part of biology studies or medical school. Its too complex and important for humanity not to recruit all the intellectual and technical skills of disciplines in science and maybe also in philosophy. Most neuroscience institutes today are multidisciplinary, not only in terms of research but also education. The Hebrew University made a pioneering contribution to the development of multidisciplinary research in neuroscience, and I am very proud and grateful for that.

What are the more recent developments in computational neuroscience that will help carry the field forward?

An important and extremely active research area in neuroscience is artificial intelligence. It is an exciting new direction. We hope to integrate new ideas, tools and models coming from AI into experimental paradigms. AI is already showing its impact in the research of my group and that of others in the last 10 years.

On the technical side of neuroscience, the toolbox for researchers has grown exponentially in terms of devices, electronics, optics and more. With this, the amount of data that is accumulated in neuroscience has grown exponentially, and now we are talking about international observatories and centers that specialize in generating big data for neuroscience research and are open access.

The Brain Prize medal, designed by Georg Jensen. (The Lundbeck Foundation)

What does it mean to you to be awarded The Brain Prize?

It is very satisfactory and a personal honor. For me and my co-winners, it is an expression of the international national recognition of the central contribution and role that theoretical and computational neuroscience plays in contemporary brain research.

You are the first Israeli to be given this award.

Im humbled by my ability to bring honor to Israeli science, particularly at this time.

What does receiving this award from a Danish foundation at a ceremony in Copenhagen mean to you given your familys background?

We were always told about the king of Denmarks empathy and public expression of support for the Jewish community [during World War II]. My going to Copenhagen in a couple of months to receive the prize from the present king, who is a descendant of the wartime one, is going to be very moving.

Link:
Physicist Haim Sompolinsky first Israeli to win largest brain science research prize - The Times of Israel