Nobel laureate Torsten Wiesel recounts the discovery of orientation selectivity in visual cortex
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Torsten Wiesel has given a firsthand account of the work with David Hubel that revealed how the primary visual cortex processes visual information. Beginning single-cell recordings of the visual system roughly 60 years ago, at a time when visual cortex was largely unexplored, the pair found that cells in primary visual cortex respond selectively to the orientation of contours, extending Stephen Kuffler's earlier description of center-surround receptive fields in retinal ganglion cells. Wiesel also touches on related themes in neuroscience, including synaptic transmission and spike frequency coding, and reflects on his years mentoring researchers at the NIH. He stresses an explorer mindset as central to basic research. His account follows a 1969 paper that prompted a letter from a well-known neurobiologist.
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- youtube.comTorsten Wiesel recounts Hubel-Wiesel discovery of orientation selectivity in primary visual cortex
Torsten Wiesel recalls how he and David Hubel began single-cell recordings of the visual system about 60 years ago, when visual cortex was largely unexplored. Their key finding was that primary visual cortex cells respond selectively to the orientation of contours, building on Kuffler's center-surround receptive field work in retinal ganglion cells. After their 1969 paper, a well-known neurobiologist wrote to them. Wiesel also discusses synaptic transmission, spike frequency coding, and his NIH mentorship, stressing the explorer mindset in basic research.
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