Walter Hess
Facts
Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.
Walter Rudolf Hess
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1949
Born: 17 March 1881, Frauenfeld, Switzerland
Died: 12 August 1973, Ascona, Switzerland
Affiliation at the time of the award: University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Prize motivation: “for his discovery of the functional organization of the interbrain as a coordinator of the activities of the internal organs”
Prize share: 1/2
Work
The diencephalon of both human and animal brains has cells that govern many behaviors. During the 1930s Walter Hess inserted a narrow metal thread into different parts of anesthetized cats’ hypothalamus, an area on the underside of the diencephalon. When the cats awoke, he could trigger different behaviors with weak electrical impulses to different parts of the hypothalamus—not just simple reactions but complex behaviors. Among other things, the cats could be made to display defensive and aggressive behaviors and to curl up and go to sleep.
Nobel Prizes and laureates
Six prizes were awarded for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. The 12 laureates' work and discoveries range from proteins' structures and machine learning to fighting for a world free of nuclear weapons.
See them all presented here.
