The answer: A 1981 Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine for groundbreaking research that transformed an entire branch of neurobiology and made lasting contributions to the field of neuroscience. Thanks to Hubel and Wiesel, scientists now have a greater understanding of how the brain processes visual information. By identifying the precise layers of brain tissue that analyze sight messages and discerning individual cells of the brain, they recognized some of the brain's most intricate mechanisms. Their discoveries also renewed debate on the "nature" vs. "nurture" question: Are the nerve connections responsible for vision innate or do they develop through experience via the early life of an animal or human?

In celebration of their unusually long collaboration and the publication of a new book on their careers, Brain and Visual Perception: The Story of a 25-Year Collaboration, fellow Nobel Laureate Eric Kandel (2000 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine) will pay tribute to Drs. Wiesel and Hubel at the New York Academy of Sciences on Thursday, March 31 at 6 p.m. The event is a highlight of the Academy's new lecture series, "Readers & Writers" a program highlighting important science books and their authors.

Two Beautiful Minds Are Better Than One

Taking a cue from their book (the work contains biographical information and a collection of their most vital research papers prefaced by newly written forewords that put their work in perspective with today's research), the two Laureates will describe the seeds of their partnership and chart how their work progressed from its beginnings in 1958 to its apex when both shared the Nobel Prize in 1981.

They will also discuss the importance of various mentors in thei
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Contact: Fred Moreno
fmoreno@nyas.org
212-838-0230 x230
New York Academy of Sciences
22-Mar-2005