NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Roger Wolcott Sperry

Roger Wolcott Sperry (August 20, 1913 - April 17, 1994) was a neuropsychologist, neurobiologist and Nobel laureate who, together with David Hunter Hubel and Torsten Nils Wiesel, won the 1981 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his work with split-brain research. August 20 is the 232nd day of the year (233rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1913 (MCMXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ... April 17 is the 107th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (108th in leap years). ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ... Neuropsychology is a branch of psychology and neurology that aims to understand how the structure and function of the brain relate to specific psychological processes. ... Neurobiology is the study of cells of the nervous system and the organization of these cells into functional circuits that process information and mediate behavior. ... David Hunter Hubel (b. ... Torsten Nils Wiesel (b. ... List of Nobel Prize laureates in Physiology or Medicine from 1901 to the present day. ... Split-brain is the condition where the corpus callosum connecting the two halves of the brain is severed to some degree. ...

Sperry was born in Hartford, Connecticut, to Francis Bushnell and Florence Kraemer Sperry. His father was in banking, and his mother trained in business school. Roger had one brother, Russell Loomis. Their father died when Roger was 11. Afterwards, his mother became assistant to the principal in the local high school. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Sperry went to Hall High School in West Hartford, Connecticut, where he was a star athlete in several sports, and did well enough academically to win a scholarship to Oberlin College. At Oberlin, he was captain of the basketball team, and he also took part in varsity baseball, football, and track; he received his bachelor's degree in English in 1935 and a master's degree in psychology in 1937. He received his Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Chicago in 1941. Sperry then did post-doctoral research with Karl Lashley at Harvard University. William H. Hall High School is a four-year public high school located in West Hartford, Connecticut. ... West Hartford is a town located in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. ... Oberlin College is a small, selective liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, in the United States. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ... Psychology is an academic or applied discipline involving the scientific study of mental processes such as perception, cognition, emotion, personality, behavior, and interpersonal relationships. ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... The University of Chicago is a private university located principally in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. ... Karl S. Lashley (1890-1958) was an American behaviorist well-remembered for his influential contributions to the study of learning and memory. ... Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) , is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. One of the eight Ivies, it was founded in 1636. ...

In 1942, he began work at the Yerkes Laboratories of Primate Biology, then a part of Harvard University. He left in 1946 to become an assistant professor, and later associate professor, at the University of Chicago. In 1952, he became the Section Chief of Neurological Diseases and Blindness at the National Institutes of Health. In 1954, he accepted a position as a professor at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) where he performed his most famous experiments. The Yerkes National Primate Research Center, located in Atlanta, Georgia at Emory University, is one of eight national primate research centers funded by the National Institutes of Health. ... Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) , is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. One of the eight Ivies, it was founded in 1636. ... The University of Chicago is a private university located principally in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. ... The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for medical research. ... 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The California Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Caltech)[1] is a private, coeducational university located in Pasadena, California, in the United States. ...

Before Sperry's experiments, some research evidence seemed to indicate that areas of the brain were largely undifferentiated and interchangeable. In his early experiments, Sperry showed that the opposite was true: after early development, circuits of the brain are largely hardwired.

In his Nobel-winning work, Sperry separated the corpus callosum, the area of the brain used to transfer signals between the right and left hemispheres, to treat epileptics. Sperry and his colleagues then tested these patients with tasks that were known to be dependent on specific hemispheres of the brain and demonstrated that the two halves of the brain may each contain consciousness. In his words, each hemisphere is... The corpus callosum is a structure of the mammalian brain in the longitudal fissure that connects the left and right cerebral hemispheres. ... Epileptic redirects here. ...

"indeed a conscious system in its own right, perceiving, thinking, remembering, reasoning, willing, and emoting, all at a characteristically human level, and . . . both the left and the right hemisphere may be conscious simultaneously in different, even in mutually conflicting, mental experiences that run along in parallel."(1)

This research contributed greatly to understanding the lateralization of brain function. In 1989, Sperry also received National Medal of Science. The human brain is separated by a longitudinal fissure, separating the brain into two distinct cerebral hemispheres. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science, also called the Presidential Medal of Science, is an honor given by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social...

In 1949, Sperry married Norma Gay Deupree. They had one son, Glenn Michael, and one daughter, Janet Hope. and a small dog named froofie

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Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: Laureates (1976-2000)

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1976: Blumberg, Gajdusek | 1977: Guillemin, Schally, Yalow | 1978: Arber, Nathans, Smith | 1979: Cormack, Hounsfield | 1980: Benacerraf, Dausset, Snell | 1981: Sperry, Hubel, Wiesel | 1982: Bergström, Samuelsson, Vane | 1983: McClintock | 1984: Jerne, Köhler, Milstein | 1985: Brown, Goldstein | 1986: Cohen, Levi-Montalcini | 1987: Tonegawa | 1988: Black, Elion, Hitchings | 1989: Bishop, Varmus | 1990: Murray, Thomas | 1991: Neher, Sakmann | 1992: Fischer, Krebs | 1993: Roberts, Sharp | 1994: Gilman, Rodbell | 1995: Lewis, Nüsslein-Volhard, Wieschaus | 1996: Doherty, Zinkernagel | 1997: Prusiner | 1998: Furchgott, Ignarro, Murad | 1999: Blobel | 2000: Carlsson, Greengard, Kandel List of Nobel Prize laureates in Physiology or Medicine from 1901 to the present day. ... Winners of the Nobel Prize are scientists, writers and peacemakers who have been awarded in their field of endeavour, and who are known collectively as either Nobel laureates or Nobel Prize winners. ... Baruch Samuel Blumberg (born July 28, 1925) is an American scientist and recipient of the 1976 Nobel Prize in Medicine for discoveries concerning new mechanisms for the origin and dissemination of infectious diseases. ... Daniel Carleton Gajdusek in 1976 when he won the Nobel Prize in Medicine. ... Roger Guillemin ( born January 11, 1924 in Dijon, France) is a neuroendocrinologist who received the Nobel prize for Medicine in 1977 for his work on neurohormones. ... Andrzej Wiktor Schally (born November 20, 1926) in Wilno, Poland), is a Polish endocrinologist and Nobel Prize winner in 1977 in Medicine for research work. ... Rosalyn Sussman Yalow (born on July 19, 1921) is an American medical physicist, and a co-winner of the 1977 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her development of the radioimmunoassay (RIA) technique. ... Werner Arber (born June 3, 1929) is a Swiss microbiologist. ... Daniel Nathans (October 30, 1928 - November 16, 1999) was a U.S. microbiologist. ... Dr. Hamilton O. Smith (born August 23, 1931) is an American microbiologist. ... Allan M. Cormack at Tufts University Allan MacLeod Cormack (February 23, 1924 â€“ May 7, 1998) was a South African-born American physicist who shared a part of the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on the computerized axial tomography (CAT) scan. ... Sir Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield (28 August 1919 - 12 August 2004) was an English electrical engineer who shared the 1979 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with Allan McLeod Cormack for his part in developing the diagnostic technique of computerized axial tomography (CAT). ... Baruj Benacerraf, M.D. Baruj Benacerraf (born 29 October 1920) is a Venezuelan-American immunologist who shared the 1980 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of the Major histocompatibility complex genes which encode cell surface molecules important for the immune systems distinction between self and non... Jean Dausset (b. ... George Davis Snell (December 19, 1903 â€“ June 6, 1996) was a U.S. geneticist and co-recipient of the 1980 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, together with Baruj Benacerraf and Jean Dausset, for discovery of the Major histocompatibility complex genes which encode cell surface molecules important for the immune... David Hunter Hubel (b. ... Torsten Nils Wiesel (b. ... Sune Karl BergstrÃ¶m (January 10, 1916 - August 15, 2004) was a Swedish biochemist. ... Bengt Ingemar Samuelsson (born May 21, 1934) is a biochemist. ... Sir John Robert Vane (March 29, 1927 - November 19, 2004) was a British pharmacologist. ... Barbara McClintock (June 16, 1902 â€“ September 2, 1992) was a pioneering American scientist and one of the worlds most distinguished cytogeneticists. ... Niels Kaj Jerne (December 23, 1911 - October 7, 1994) was a British-Danish-Swedish (English-born) immunologist. ... Georges Jean Franz KÃ¶hler (Munich, March 17, 1946 â€“ March 1, 1995 in Freiburg im Breisgau) was a German biologist. ... CÃ©sar Milstein (October 8, 1927 â€“ March 24, 2002), an Argentine-born scientist who spent most of his life in Great Britain. ... Dr. Michael Stuart Brown (b. ... Joseph L. Goldstein (b. ... Stanley Cohen (born November 17, 1922) is an American researcher and Nobel Prize Laureate in Physiology and Medicine (1986). ... Rita Levi Montalcini. ... Susumu Tonegawa (ï§æ ¹å· é€² Tonegawa Susumu, born September 6, 1939) is a Japanese scientist who won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1987 for his discovery of the genetic principle for generation of antibody diversity. ... Sir James Whyte Black, OM, FRS, FRSE, FRCP (born 14 July 1924) is a Scottish pharmacologist who invented Propranolol, synthesized Cimetidine and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1988 for these discoveries. ... Gertrude Belle Elion (January 23, 1918 â€“ February 21, 1999) was an American biochemist and pharmacologist, and a 1988 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. ... George H. Hitchings (April 18, 1905 â€“ February 27, 1998) shared the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Sir James Black and Gertrude Elion for their discoveries of important principles for drug treatment, Hitchings specifically for his work on chemotherapy. ... J. Michael Bishop (born February 22, 1936) is an American immunologist and microbiologist who won the 1989 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. ... Harold Elliot Varmus (b. ... Joseph E. Murray (born 1 April 1919), American surgeon, performed the first successful human kidney transplant from an adult to his identical twin. ... Dr. Edward Donnall (Don) Thomas (b. ... Erwin Neher (born 1944 in Landsberg am Lech, Bavaria) is a German biologist. ... Bert Sakmann (born June 12, 1942) is a German cell physiologist. ... Dr Edmond H. Fischer (born April 6, 1920) is a Swiss-American biochemist. ... Dr Edwin Gerhard Krebs (born June 6, 1918) is an American biochemist. ... Richard J. Roberts (b. ... Phillip Allen Sharp (born 1944), U.S. geneticist and molecular biologist; co-discovered gene splicing; shared the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Richard J. Roberts for the discovery that genes in eukaryotes are not contiguous strings but contain introns, and that the splicing of messenger RNA to... Alfred Goodman Gilman (born July 1, 1941) is an American scientist. ... Martin Rodbell won a Nobel Prize in 1994 Martin Rodbell (December 1, 1925- December 7, 1998) was an American biochemist and molecular endocrinologist who is best known for his discovery of G-proteins. ... Edward B. Lewis (May 20, 1918 â€“ July 21, 2004) was an American geneticist, the winner of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Medicine. ... Christiane NÃ¼sslein-Volhard (born October 20, 1942 in Magdeburg) is a German biologist who won the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research in 1991 and the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1995, together with Eric Wieschaus and Edward B. Lewis, for their research on the genetic... Eric F. Wieschaus (born June 8, 1947) is an American developmental biologist and Nobel Prize-winner. ... Peter Doherty on a stamp released by Australia Post Dr. Peter C. Doherty (born October 15, 1940) is an Australian researcher in the field of medicine. ... Rolf Martin Zinkernagel (January 6, 1944 in Riehen, Basel-Stadt, Switzerland) is Professor of Experimental Immunology at the University of Zurich. ... Stanley B. Prusiner, M.D. (born May 28, 1942) is a Professor of Neurology and Biochemistry at the University of California, San Francisco. ... Robert F. Furchgott (born June 4, 1916 in Charleston, South Carolina) is a Nobel Prize-winning American chemist. ... Dr. Louis J. Ignarro (b. ... Dr. Ferid Murad Ferid Murad (born September 14, 1936) is an American physician and pharmacologist, and a co-winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. ... GÃ¼nter Blobel (born May 21, 1936) is a German biologist. ... Arvid Carlsson (b. ... Paul Greengard (b. ... Eric Richard Kandel (born November 7, 1929) is a psychiatrist, a neuroscientist and professor of biochemistry and biophysics at Columbia University. ...

Complete List | Laureates (1901-1925) | Laureates (1926-1950) | Laureates (1951-1975) | Laureates (2001- )

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