Physiologist, born in London, UK. He studied at Cambridge and London, and became director of the National Institute for Medical Research, London, in 1928. He discovered acetylcholine and histamine, and in 1936 shared the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for work on the chemical transmission of nerve impulses.
Research
Although Dale and his colleagues first identified acetylcholine in 1914 as a possible neurotransmitter, Loewi showed its importance in the nervous system.
During the 1940s Dale was embroiled in the scientific debate over the nature of signaling at the synapse. Dale and others believed that signaling at the synapse was chemical, while John Carew Eccles and others believed that the synapse was electrical.
Dale also originated the scheme used to differentiate neurons according to what neurotransmitter they release. Thus, neurons releasing norepinephrine (also known as noradrenaline) are called noradrenergic, neurons releasing GABA are GABAergic, and so on. This principle states that each neuron releases only one type of neurotransmitter. Dale's principle has been shown to be false; many neurons release neuropeptides in addition to amino acids or amines (Bear, et al.
Biography
Dale was born in London, England. He was educated at The Leys School Cambridge and in 1894 he entered Trinity College at Cambridge University working under the physiologist John Langley. In 1904, Dale married his first cousin Ellen Harriet Hallett. Dale received his M.D. Dale became the Director of the Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacology at the National Institute for Medical Research in London in 1914. Dale served as President of the Royal Society from 1940 to 1945.
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