Peter R. Huttenlocher

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Peter R. Huttenlocher (born February 23, 1931 in Oberlahnstein , † August 15, 2013 in Chicago ) was a German - American neuropediatrician and neuroscientist .

Life

Peter Huttenlocher traveled to the USA in 1949, initially to visit his mother. She had left the family before World War II and emigrated to the United States because of her rejection of National Socialism. He studied at the University at Buffalo philosophy until his bachelor's degree. He then moved to Harvard University in Cambridge (Massachusetts), where he graduated as a Doctor of Medicine (MD). As an assistant professor , Huttenlocher taught and researched from 1964 to 1966 at Harvard University and then until 1974 at Yale University in New Haven (Connecticut). From 1974 until his retirement in 2003 he worked at the University of Chicago (Illinois).

Peter Huttenlocher's father Richard was a chemist from Stuttgart , his mother Else an opera singer. His father's brother was the German geographer Friedrich Huttenlocher . Since 1954 he was with the psychologist Janellen Huttenlocher , geb. Burns, married. He had two sons and a daughter, the computer scientist Daniel Huttenlocher and the immunologist Anna Huttenlocher .

Scientific achievements

Huttenlocher's most important research area was the development of synapses in the human cerebrum . His research from the late 1970s, when he was the first to succeed in measuring the number of synapses in the brains of young children , became particularly well known . His work showed that in the period from birth to the age of three, the number of synapses in the brain increases rapidly, while afterwards it decreases again. Since synapses are the contact points that connect nerve cells with one another, Huttenlocher's research explains the enormous learning and adaptability of small children. His research also showed that different brain regions reach the highest production speed of the synapses at different times. The assumption that toddlers at different ages learn in very different ways could for the first time be traced back to the formation of synapses in different areas of the brain. The importance of this discovery was highlighted by Nobel Prize winner Eric Kandel :

"It would be hard to think of another discovery that is so central to our understanding of pediatric neurology."
"You can hardly imagine any other discovery that is so central to our understanding of neuropaediatrics."

His discovery contributed significantly to the advantageous assessment of early childhood learning, for example in foreign language teaching or music education.

Huttenlocher also gained recognition through his investigations into Reye's syndrome . After him he researched neuro degenerative disease named, the Alpers' disease .

Fonts (selection)

  • Peter R. Huttenlocher: Neural Plasticity: The Effects of Environment on the Development of the Cerebral Cortex (Perspectives in Cognitive Neuroscience) . Harvard University Press, Cambridge 2002, ISBN 978-0-674-00743-7 .
  • PR Huttenlocher, AS Dabholkar: Regional differences in synaptogenesis in human cerebral cortex. In: The Journal of comparative neurology. Volume 387, Number 2, October 1997, pp. 167-178, ISSN  0021-9967 . PMID 9336221 .
  • PR Huttenlocher: Synaptic density in human frontal cortex - developmental changes and effects of aging. In: Brain research. Volume 163, Number 2, March 1979, pp. 195-205, ISSN  0006-8993 . PMID 427544 .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ William Yardley: Peter Huttenlocher, Explorer of the Brain's Development, Dies at 82. In: The New York Times . August 26, 2013.
  2. ↑ Joan Giangrasse Kates: Dr. Peter Huttenlocher, neuroscientist, 1931–2013 ( Memento from September 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) . In: Chicago Tribune . 22nd August 2013.
personal data
SURNAME Huttenlocher, Peter R.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Huttenlocher, Peter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-American pediatrician and neurologist
DATE OF BIRTH February 23, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Oberlahnstein
DATE OF DEATH 15th August 2013
Place of death Chicago