Torsten Wiesel facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Torsten Wiesel
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Wiesel in 2010
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| 7th President of Rockefeller University | |
| In office 1991–1998 |
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| Preceded by | David Baltimore |
| Succeeded by | Arnold J. Levine |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Torsten Nils Wiesel
3 June 1924 Uppsala, Sweden |
| Spouses |
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| Children | 1 |
| Alma mater | Karolinska Institute |
| Known for | Visual system |
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| Scientific career | |
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Torsten Nils Wiesel, born on June 3, 1924, is a famous Swedish scientist. He studies the brain and how it works, especially how we see. This field is called neurophysiology. In 1981, he won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with his partner, David H. Hubel. They won for finding out how our brains process what we see. Another scientist, Roger W. Sperry, also shared the prize for his own work on the brain.
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Torsten Wiesel's Life and Work
Torsten Wiesel was born in Uppsala, Sweden, in 1924. He was the youngest of five children. In 1947, he started his science journey at the Karolinska Institute. He earned his medical degree there in 1954. He then taught at the institute and worked in a children's psychiatry unit.
Moving to the United States
In 1955, Wiesel moved to the United States. He began working at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. There, he met David Hubel in 1958. This was the start of a partnership that lasted over twenty years. In 1959, Wiesel and Hubel moved to Harvard University. Wiesel became a professor there in 1968. He even led the new neurobiology department in 1973.
Leadership Roles
In 1983, Wiesel joined Rockefeller University. He became the president of the university from 1991 to 1998. He still works there as a co-director of a center that studies the mind and brain.
Wiesel has also held many important roles in science organizations.
- From 2000 to 2009, he was Secretary-General of the Human Frontier Science Program. This group helps scientists from different countries work together.
- He has led science boards in China and Japan.
- He has also been involved with other important groups, like the Pew Center on Global Climate Change.
Wiesel has also led several major science societies.
- He was president of the Society for Neuroscience from 1978 to 1979.
- He also led the International Brain Research Organization.
- He was chairman of the New York Academy of Sciences for several years.
Discoveries About Vision
Wiesel and Hubel's experiments greatly increased our knowledge of how we see. They studied how the brain processes visual information.
How the Brain Sees Lines and Movement
In one experiment in 1959, they put a tiny microelectrode into the brain of a sleeping cat. This electrode helped them listen to brain cells. They showed patterns of light and dark on a screen in front of the cat. They found that some brain cells, called "simple cells," reacted strongly to lines at a certain angle. Other cells, called "complex cells," reacted best to lines moving in a specific direction. These studies showed how the brain builds a full picture from simple visual signals.
Understanding Eye Development
Wiesel and Hubel also studied how the brain develops vision. They looked at "ocular dominance columns" in the brain. These are areas that receive signals from one eye or the other. They found that if a kitten couldn't use one eye, the brain areas for that eye were taken over by the other eye. These kittens also didn't develop areas that get input from both eyes. This is important for seeing depth, or binocular vision.
Their work showed that how our eyes connect to our brain is set very early in childhood. This discovery was very important. It helped doctors understand and treat eye problems in children, like cataracts (cloudy lenses) and strabismus (crossed eyes). Their research also helped us understand how flexible the brain is, a concept called neuroplasticity.
Awards and Special Recognitions
Torsten Wiesel has received many awards and honors for his important work. He is a member of many respected science groups around the world.
- He received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1981.
- He was given the National Medal of Science in 2005, a top science award in the U.S.
- He also received the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize in 1978.
- In 2009, Japan awarded him the Order of the Rising Sun, a very high honor.
- He has received honorary degrees from several universities.
Personal Life
Torsten Wiesel is married to Lizette Mususa Reyes. He has one daughter, Sara Elisabeth, who was born in 1975. Torsten Wiesel turned 100 years old on June 3, 2024.
Working for Human Rights
Wiesel is also a strong supporter of human rights around the world.
- For 10 years, he led the Committee of Human Rights of the United States National Academy of Sciences.
- He also worked with the International Human Rights Network of Academies and Scholarly Societies.
- In 2005, he received the David Rall Medal for his human rights work.
- He helped start the Israeli-Palestinian Science Organization in 2004. This group helps scientists from Israel and Palestine work together.
See also
In Spanish: Torsten Wiesel para niños
- Neocognitron
