Carla Shatz, neuroscientist: "The notion that the brain is already plastic in utero, well before birth, has been decisive"

American neuroscientist Carla Shatz received the Grand Medal from the French Academy of Sciences on November 3. A Stanford University professor, she is known for her groundbreaking work on visual system plasticity in mammalian embryos. At 79, she reflects on her significant contributions, which also aid in understanding Alzheimer's disease processes. Shatz's discoveries, made during her PhD at Harvard in the 1970s, revealed how visual neurons connect to the brain, a process that begins early in embryonic development, long before vision is possible.