Neuroscientist Iván Izquierdo died Tuesday morning (9) at his home in Porto Alegre. Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), where he participated in the creation of the Brain Institute of Rio Grande do Sul (InsCer), disclosed the information. The cause of death was not disclosed.
Izquierdo was born in Buenos Aires and moved to Brazil in 1973. He had lived in Porto Alegre since 1977 with his family. In 1981, he was naturalized Brazilian.
During his career, the neuroscientist dedicated himself to studying memory's mechanisms - how we acquire and lose memories and recollections- and became one of the main international researchers in this area.
Among his main findings is the existence of long and short term memories, which are formed simultaneously, but by different mechanisms.
In his 60 years of research and teaching, Izquierdo published more than 700 scientific articles and received more than 60 national and international awards for his work.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon