Obituary: David Hubel | Mo Costandi

Neuroscientist David Hubel, who shared a Nobel Prize for his work on information processing in the visual cortex, has died at the age of 87Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist David Hubel died of kidney failure on Sunday, 22nd September, aged 87. Hubel shared the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his contribution to our understanding of the structure and function of the visual system. His work, performed largely with long-time collaborator Torsten Wiesel, provided deep insights into the brain's information processing capabilities. It led to the important concept of the critical period, and to treatments for several common childhood eye conditions. Hubel was born on February 27th, 1926 in Windsor, Ontario, and developed an early interest in science, which he credits to his father, a chemical engineer. As a child, he mixed potassium chlorate with sugar to fire toy cannons, and released a hydrogen balloon that was later recovered by a farmer's daughter more than 100 miles away. Hubel subsequently studied mathematics and physics a McGill University in Montreal, where his family had moved in 1929. He graduated with honours in 1947 and, despite being accepted into McGill's physics graduate program, opted instead to study medicine. As a medical student, Hubel spent his summers at the Montreal Neurological Institute, and quickly became fascinated by the nervous system. He received his medical degree in 1951, and stayed on at McGill for another three years to study neurolog...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: theguardian.com Blogposts Obituaries Neuroscience Source Type: news