Moshe Abeles

Moshe Abeles was born in 1936 in Tel Aviv

Moshe Abeles was born on October 7, 1936, in Tel Aviv. His father, Dr. Walter Abeles, was a physician and diplomat who served as Israel's ambassador to Colombia, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. His mother, Cecilia, designed clothing and taught sewing as a volunteer in Jerusalem.

In 1947 the family moved to Jerusalem, where he attended the Hebrew University Secondary School. After army service, he began studying medicine at the Hebrew University in 1956. After four years he turned to research, earning his master's degree in 1960 and his doctorate in 1966 under Professor Yonathan Magnes.

He trained in biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins University and became a full professor of neurophysiology at the Hebrew University. He headed its Department of Physiology, directed the Israeli center for neurobiology, and led the Interdisciplinary Center for Neural Computation. His research on circuits in the cerebral cortex led to the synfire chain theory.

He founded the Gonda Brain Research Center at Bar-Ilan University and directed it until 2011. He wrote the book Corticonics, published in 1991. He is married to Gabi, an artist, and they have 2 daughters.