In 1957, Swedish scientist Arvid Carlsson demonstrated that dopamine was a neurotransmitter in the brain and not just a precursor for norepinephrine, as had been previously believed.
He then showed that giving animals the drug reserpine caused a decrease in dopamine levels and a loss of movement control.
Arvid Carlsson subsequently won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2000 along with co-recipients Eric Kandel and Paul Greengard.
At this point, Cotzias made the critical observation that converted the transient response into a successful, large scale treatment.
Cotzias appears as a minor character in the American poet James Merrill's The Changing Light at Sandover.