Curt Paul Richter was a biologist

Biologist

A biologist is a scientist devoted to and producing results in biology through the study of life. Typically biologists study organisms and their relationship to their environment. Biologists involved in basic research attempt to discover underlying mechanisms that govern how organisms work...

, psychobiologist and geneticist

Geneticist

A geneticist is a biologist who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a researcher or lecturer. Some geneticists perform experiments and analyze data to interpret the inheritance of skills. A geneticist is also a Consultant or...

 at Johns Hopkins University. Richter identified the hypothalamus

Hypothalamus

The Hypothalamus is a portion of the brain that contains a number of small nuclei with a variety of functions...

 as a "biological pacemaker" involved in sleeping and wakefulness.

Richter induced need states in experimental animals by depriving them of substances essential to survival, or manipulating the hormone levels, and showed that these need states generate appetites, and behaviours precisely fitting the animal's need even if the animal had never before experienced the need; demonstrating genetic programming

Genetic programming

In artificial intelligence, genetic programming is an evolutionary algorithm-based methodology inspired by biological evolution to find computer programs that perform a user-defined task. It is a specialization of genetic algorithms where each individual is a computer program...

of behaviour. He also triggered other preprogrammed behaviours, such as nest building, by manipulating hormone levels.

External links

• Medical Archives