History of neurology

David Hubel (Fig. 1) was born on the 27th of February 1926 in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. His parents were American emigrants; his father was a chemist. In 1929, they moved to Montreal. From his early age, Hubel, following his father’s footsteps, showed interest in science, especially chemistry and electric engineering. After graduating from Strathcona Academy located on the Montreal suburbs, he began his studies at the McGill University in Montreal. Initially he studied physics and mathematics than medicine [1]. After graduation and apprenticeship, he took 2 years residency in neurology. Already in Canada, under the direction of Herbert Jasper, he developed his interests in neurology. In 1953, he received American, while simultaneously retaining Canadian citizenship. In 1954 he moved to America, where in Baltimore he began residency in neurology at the John Hopkins University School of Medicine. In 1955, he was drafted into the military service, where fortunately he could devote himself to scientific research. He started working at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. Both, his specialization and the long-time interest in electronics drove him to conduct research on the nervous system. Initially he engaged in research on the cord, than the cerebral cortex. Together with a team of neurophysiologists he conducted studies on the visual cortex in sleeping and awakened cats. Hubel invented the modern tungsten microelectrode, supported by a hydraulic control unit that allows detection of signals from that area. Hubel noticed that various light signals stimulate individual neurons whereas others are left inactivated. In 1958, Hubel returned to John Hopkins where he began working with a team under the leadership of Stephen Kuffer (1913–1980). There he had begun a close cooperation with Torsten Wiesel, with whom he discovered selectivity and columnar organization in striate cortex. The research was conducted again placing a microelectrode in the striate cortex of cats. The animals were subjected to subsequent images, light, and dark. Individual neurons responded differently to diverse light intensity and graphic elements such as rectangles, with various angles of inclination. Some fired rapidly with lines at one angle while others were activated with light at a different one. Different images caused the neurons activity to change. These findings led Hubel and Wiesel to hierarchize striate cortex cells [2, 3]. In 1959, a publication authored by Hubel and Wiesel appeared on this subject [4]. It showed the results of research conducted on 24 lightly anesthetized cats whose eyes were opened using wire clips. The authors provided cats with light impulses to one or both eyes. The signal was picked up in single cells of the striate cortex. The cells of the striate cortex were activated in continuous light and the deepening of anesthesia decreased the degree of cell activity. The area of the retina, which caused the activity of a single field in the striate cortex, was later called the A. Grzybowski Department of Ophthalmology, Poznań City Hospital, Poznan, Poland