Nils-Åke Hillarp (4 July 1916 – 17 March 1965) was a Swedish scientist and a prominent force in research on the brain's monoamines.
[4] By this method Hillarp and Falck could demonstrate the presence of these monoamines in the central as well as the peripheral nervous system with great precision and susceptibility.
[5] Accordingly, it was not Arvid Carlsson who had discovered that dopamine is a signal substance in the central nervous system, as stated by the Nobel Committee at the Karolinska Institute in a press release in 2000.
Many accomplished researchers, were tutored by Hillarp, including Annica Dahlström, Nobel prize winner Arvid Carlsson, Kjell Fuxe, Lars Olsson and Tomas Hökfelt.
The Hillarp lecture hall at the Karolinska instutet is named after him,[9] and he has been described as "a person who would change neuroscience in Sweden, in fact worldwide, perhaps more than any other Swedish scientist.