Walter Heiligenberg
Encyclopedia
Walter Heiligenberg is best known for his contribution to neuroethology
through his work on one of the best neurologically understood behavioral patterns in vertebrate, Eigenmannia (Zupanc and Bullock 2006). This weakly electric fish
and the neural basis for its jamming avoidance response
behavioral process was the main focus of his research, and is fully explored in his 1991 book, “Neural Nets in Electric Fish.” As an international scientist, he worked alongside other neuroethologists and researchers to further explain animal behavior in a comprehensive manner and “through the application of a strict analytical and quantitative method” (Zupanc 2004). The advancements within neuroethology today are still largely due to his influences, as his life was dedicated to researching that which could be applicable to “all complex nervous systems” and he “[investigated] the general principles of nature” (Autrum 1994).
, Germany
, but moved to Munster
soon afterwards (Autrum 1994). He then spent part of his early adulthood in Munich and Seewiesen before ultimately moving to San Diego, California
, in 1972. Heiligenberg was killed in the crash of USAir Flight 427
on September 8, 1994, while on his way to deliver a lecture at the University of Pittsburgh
(Leaders in Their Fields 1994).
, one of the founders of modern ethology
and head of a Max Planck
research group, in 1953 (Zupance and Bullock 2006). Through Lorenz’s influence, his interest in fish and animal behavior thrived even before entering college (Autrum 1994).
He initially entered the University of Münster
in 1958, but transferred to the University of Munich after Lorenz and fellow neuroethologist Erich von Holst
established the Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology
in a city approximately 20 miles from Munich, in Seewiesen (Bullock et al. 1995). Between these two colleges, his studies were spread between botany
, zoology
, physics
, and mathematics
, whose influence is clearly seen in his quantitative approaches in later research towards the neural bases of animal behavior (Zupanc and Bullock 2006). It was here that his ethological foundation was laid, as he “performed a quantitative analysis of the effect of motivational factors on the occurrence of various social behavioral patterns” through his doctoral thesis, “On causation of Behavioral Patterns in Chiclid Fish,” which was completed in 1963 under Lorenz and Hansjochem Autrum, a sensory physiologist (Carr 1994; Zupanc and Bullock 2006).
s in Seewiesen (Heiligenberg 1965; Heiligenberg 1969), successfully conducting a quantitative demonstration of the “law of heterogeneous summation,” whose model predicted that “different features of a stimulation in a [led] to an independent behavioral stimulation in the receiver” (Zupanc and Bullock 2006). Much of his work eventually led to the testing and production of evidence contrary to Lorenz’s theory of the psychohydraulic model of motivation (specifically aggression) using male Chiclidae (Zupanc and Bullock 2006). Such was his willingness to venture into new neuroethological territories despite the established research at the time.
His status as neuroethologist became further established when he moved to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography
at the University of California, San Diego
(UCSD), in 1972 as a post-doctoral investigator in Theodore Holmes Bullock
’s laboratory (Carr 1994). His appointment to faculty in 1973, then to the position of full professor of behavioral physiology in 1977 followed his decision to decline the position of Director at the Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology
in Seewiesen (Autrum 1994).
His work at UCSD led him to publish widely about the neural bases of the jamming avoidance response, the first vertebrate example of an entire behavioral pattern that could be explained from sensory input to motor output (Carr 1994). The built-in electric organ of Eigennmania that gave millivolt discharges was found to be adaptive for location of external objects and for communication (electrolocation and electrocommunication, respectively) (Bullock et al. 1995). Heiligenberg also continued study on the potentially more complex social behaviors, including courtship and aggressive encounters. The decades’ worth of work was expressed through the book, “Neural Nets in Electric Fish,” in which he explains observed phenomena of the jamming avoidance response, the nature of the electrical stimulus, the neural networks triggering them, and even explains it with respect to other sensory and species’ systems (Heiligenberg 1991). His inclination to successfully use computational methods and modeling made him a pioneer in the neuroethology community.
More importantly, his personal work employed the useful aspects of both neurophysiology and ethology, whose approaches addressed the single-unit interactions and more complicated patterned processes, respectively (Heiligenberg1977). In his own words, his methodology was based on the belief that it would be “most promising if the behavior investigated is sufficiently simple to readily allow neurophysiological interpretations. Particularly suitable are those patterns of behavior which still function while under the restricted condition of neurophysiological experiments, since stimulus input and behavioral output can immediately be related to neuronal events” (Heiligenberg 1977).
, Konrad Lorenz
, Erich von Holst
, Theodore Holmes Bullock
, Cichlid
, Electric fish
, Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology
, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Autrum, H. 1994. Walter Heiligenberg, 31.1.1938 to 8.9.1994. J Comp Physiol A 175: 675.
Bullock, Theodore, Aaron V. Cicourel, and Glenn Northcutt. 1995. Walter F. Heiligenberg, Physiology: San Diego. 1995, University of California: In Memoriam. http://content.Cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=hb238nb0fs&doc.view=frames&chunk.id=div00033&toc.depth=1&toc.id=.
Carr, Catherine. 1994. Walter Heiligenberg. J Comput Neurosci 4: 263-264.
Heiligenberg, Walter. 1969. The effect of stimulus chirps on a cricket's chirping (Acheta domesticus). Z Vergl Physiol 65: 70-97.
Heiligenberg, Walter. 1965. http://www.sciencedirect.com.proxy.library.cornell.edu:2048/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6W9W-4F1RW93-W&_user=492137&_coverDate=01%2F31%2F1965&_alid=658164989&_rdoc=1&_fmt=summary&_orig=search&_cdi=6693&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=1&_acct=C000022719&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=492137&md5=d47b07e193284416ebb4eb29a436c1fbA quantitative analysis of digging movements and their relationship to aggressive behaviour in cichlids]. Anim Behav 13: 163-170 .
Heiligenberg, Walter. 1977. Principles of Electrolocation and Jamming Avoidance in Electric Fish: A Neuroethological Approach. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Heiligenberg, Walter. 1991. Neural Nets in Electric Fish. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Moortgat, K.T. The Heiligenberg Lab. http://www.cnl.salk.edu/%7Ekt/Heiligenberg_Lab.html.
Zupanc, Gunther K. H. 2004. Behavioral Neurobiology: An integrative approach. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Zupanc, Gunther K. H. and Theodore Bullock. 2006. Walter Heiligenberg: the jamming avoidance response and beyond. J Comp Physiol A 192: 561–572.
Neuroethology
Neuroethology is the evolutionary and comparative approach to the study of animal behavior and its underlying mechanistic control by the nervous system...
through his work on one of the best neurologically understood behavioral patterns in vertebrate, Eigenmannia (Zupanc and Bullock 2006). This weakly electric fish
Electric fish
An electric fish is a fish that can generate electric fields. It is said to be electrogenic; a fish that has the ability to detect electric fields is said to be electroreceptive. Most electrogenic fish are also electroreceptive. Electric fish species can be found both in the sea and in freshwater...
and the neural basis for its jamming avoidance response
Jamming avoidance response
The jamming avoidance response or JAR is a behavior performed by some species of weakly electric fish. The JAR occurs when two electric fish with wave discharges meet – if their discharge frequencies are very similar, each fish will shift its discharge frequency to increase the difference between...
behavioral process was the main focus of his research, and is fully explored in his 1991 book, “Neural Nets in Electric Fish.” As an international scientist, he worked alongside other neuroethologists and researchers to further explain animal behavior in a comprehensive manner and “through the application of a strict analytical and quantitative method” (Zupanc 2004). The advancements within neuroethology today are still largely due to his influences, as his life was dedicated to researching that which could be applicable to “all complex nervous systems” and he “[investigated] the general principles of nature” (Autrum 1994).
Life and death
Heiligenberg was born in BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, but moved to Munster
Munster
Munster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the south of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial purposes...
soon afterwards (Autrum 1994). He then spent part of his early adulthood in Munich and Seewiesen before ultimately moving to San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
, in 1972. Heiligenberg was killed in the crash of USAir Flight 427
USAir Flight 427
US Air Flight 427 was a scheduled flight from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport to Pittsburgh, with a final destination of West Palm Beach, Florida...
on September 8, 1994, while on his way to deliver a lecture at the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
(Leaders in Their Fields 1994).
Scientific background and work
Heiligenberg’s interest in ethology started at a young age, when he met Konrad LorenzKonrad Lorenz
Konrad Zacharias Lorenz was an Austrian zoologist, ethologist, and ornithologist. He shared the 1973 Nobel Prize with Nikolaas Tinbergen and Karl von Frisch...
, one of the founders of modern ethology
Ethology
Ethology is the scientific study of animal behavior, and a sub-topic of zoology....
and head of a Max Planck
Max Planck
Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck, ForMemRS, was a German physicist who actualized the quantum physics, initiating a revolution in natural science and philosophy. He is regarded as the founder of the quantum theory, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918.-Life and career:Planck came...
research group, in 1953 (Zupance and Bullock 2006). Through Lorenz’s influence, his interest in fish and animal behavior thrived even before entering college (Autrum 1994).
He initially entered the University of Münster
University of Münster
The University of Münster is a public university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. The WWU is part of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, a society of Germany's leading research universities...
in 1958, but transferred to the University of Munich after Lorenz and fellow neuroethologist Erich von Holst
Erich von Holst
Erich von Holst , was a German behavioral physiologist who was a native of Riga, and was related to historian Hermann Eduard von Holst...
established the Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology
Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology
The former Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology was located in Seewiesen, Bavaria, Germany. It was one of 80 institutes in the Max Planck Society ....
in a city approximately 20 miles from Munich, in Seewiesen (Bullock et al. 1995). Between these two colleges, his studies were spread between botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
, zoology
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
, physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, and mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, whose influence is clearly seen in his quantitative approaches in later research towards the neural bases of animal behavior (Zupanc and Bullock 2006). It was here that his ethological foundation was laid, as he “performed a quantitative analysis of the effect of motivational factors on the occurrence of various social behavioral patterns” through his doctoral thesis, “On causation of Behavioral Patterns in Chiclid Fish,” which was completed in 1963 under Lorenz and Hansjochem Autrum, a sensory physiologist (Carr 1994; Zupanc and Bullock 2006).
Academic career
His research continued to focus on the motivational behaviors of chiclid fish and cricketCricket (insect)
Crickets, family Gryllidae , are insects somewhat related to grasshoppers, and more closely related to katydids or bush crickets . They have somewhat flattened bodies and long antennae. There are about 900 species of crickets...
s in Seewiesen (Heiligenberg 1965; Heiligenberg 1969), successfully conducting a quantitative demonstration of the “law of heterogeneous summation,” whose model predicted that “different features of a stimulation in a [led] to an independent behavioral stimulation in the receiver” (Zupanc and Bullock 2006). Much of his work eventually led to the testing and production of evidence contrary to Lorenz’s theory of the psychohydraulic model of motivation (specifically aggression) using male Chiclidae (Zupanc and Bullock 2006). Such was his willingness to venture into new neuroethological territories despite the established research at the time.
His status as neuroethologist became further established when he moved to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California, is one of the oldest and largest centers for ocean and earth science research, graduate training, and public service in the world...
at the University of California, San Diego
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego, commonly known as UCSD or UC San Diego, is a public research university located in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States...
(UCSD), in 1972 as a post-doctoral investigator in Theodore Holmes Bullock
Theodore Holmes Bullock
Theodore Holmes “Ted” Bullock is one of the founding fathers of neuroethology. During a career spanning nearly seven decades, this American academic was esteemed both as a pioneering and influential neuroscientist, examining the physiology and evolution of the nervous system across organizational...
’s laboratory (Carr 1994). His appointment to faculty in 1973, then to the position of full professor of behavioral physiology in 1977 followed his decision to decline the position of Director at the Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology
Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology
The former Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology was located in Seewiesen, Bavaria, Germany. It was one of 80 institutes in the Max Planck Society ....
in Seewiesen (Autrum 1994).
His work at UCSD led him to publish widely about the neural bases of the jamming avoidance response, the first vertebrate example of an entire behavioral pattern that could be explained from sensory input to motor output (Carr 1994). The built-in electric organ of Eigennmania that gave millivolt discharges was found to be adaptive for location of external objects and for communication (electrolocation and electrocommunication, respectively) (Bullock et al. 1995). Heiligenberg also continued study on the potentially more complex social behaviors, including courtship and aggressive encounters. The decades’ worth of work was expressed through the book, “Neural Nets in Electric Fish,” in which he explains observed phenomena of the jamming avoidance response, the nature of the electrical stimulus, the neural networks triggering them, and even explains it with respect to other sensory and species’ systems (Heiligenberg 1991). His inclination to successfully use computational methods and modeling made him a pioneer in the neuroethology community.
Heiligenberg Lab
During Heiligenberg’s time at Scripps, he directed his fellow researchers and graduate students toward exploring behavioral phenomena through neuroethological methods and interests. His openness with his graduate students was notable, as he encouraged them not only to use and learn new techniques and other interests in different fields, but was also willing to allow them independently started projects and papers published without being named as a co-author (Zupanc and Bullock 2006).More importantly, his personal work employed the useful aspects of both neurophysiology and ethology, whose approaches addressed the single-unit interactions and more complicated patterned processes, respectively (Heiligenberg1977). In his own words, his methodology was based on the belief that it would be “most promising if the behavior investigated is sufficiently simple to readily allow neurophysiological interpretations. Particularly suitable are those patterns of behavior which still function while under the restricted condition of neurophysiological experiments, since stimulus input and behavioral output can immediately be related to neuronal events” (Heiligenberg 1977).
Publications
A list of the journal articles and abstracts he helped to author at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography from 1960 to 1994, can be accessed through http://www.cnl.salk.edu/~kt/heiligref.html. Furthermore, there is a complete list of Heiligenberg lab publications up to 2000 in Zupanc and Bullock’s 2006 article titled “Walter Heiligenberg: the jamming avoidance response and beyond? (Zupanc and Bullock 2006). The Heiligenberg Lab at Scripps has a website at http://www.cnl.salk.edu/%7Ekt/Heiligenberg_Lab.html (Moortgat).Honors
Throughout Heiligenberg’s lifetime, his dedication and groundbreaking research made him a leader in the neuroethology community. At the time of his death, he had already received the Javits Award from the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke, the Merit Award from the National Institute of Mental Health, and was a member of the Bavarian Academy of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and also of the Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina (Zupanc and Bullock 2006). Heiligenberg also received the David Sparks Prize for systems neurophysiology and served as senior editor of the Journal of Comparative Physiology (Leaders in Their Fields 1994), an added honor to being an editor for the journal since 1981 (Autrum 1994). A student travel award of the International Society of Neuroethology is named in his honor.See also
NeuroethologyNeuroethology
Neuroethology is the evolutionary and comparative approach to the study of animal behavior and its underlying mechanistic control by the nervous system...
, Konrad Lorenz
Konrad Lorenz
Konrad Zacharias Lorenz was an Austrian zoologist, ethologist, and ornithologist. He shared the 1973 Nobel Prize with Nikolaas Tinbergen and Karl von Frisch...
, Erich von Holst
Erich von Holst
Erich von Holst , was a German behavioral physiologist who was a native of Riga, and was related to historian Hermann Eduard von Holst...
, Theodore Holmes Bullock
Theodore Holmes Bullock
Theodore Holmes “Ted” Bullock is one of the founding fathers of neuroethology. During a career spanning nearly seven decades, this American academic was esteemed both as a pioneering and influential neuroscientist, examining the physiology and evolution of the nervous system across organizational...
, Cichlid
Cichlid
Cichlids are fishes from the family Cichlidae in the order Perciformes. Cichlids are members of a group known as the Labroidei along with the wrasses , damselfish , and surfperches . This family is both large and diverse. At least 1,300 species have been scientifically described, making it one of...
, Electric fish
Electric fish
An electric fish is a fish that can generate electric fields. It is said to be electrogenic; a fish that has the ability to detect electric fields is said to be electroreceptive. Most electrogenic fish are also electroreceptive. Electric fish species can be found both in the sea and in freshwater...
, Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology
Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology
The former Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology was located in Seewiesen, Bavaria, Germany. It was one of 80 institutes in the Max Planck Society ....
, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California, is one of the oldest and largest centers for ocean and earth science research, graduate training, and public service in the world...
External links
1994. Leaders in Their Fields, From Science to Business, Who Died in USAir Crash; Walter Heiligenberg, Scientist, 56. New York Times, September 11, Obituaries.Autrum, H. 1994. Walter Heiligenberg, 31.1.1938 to 8.9.1994. J Comp Physiol A 175: 675.
Bullock, Theodore, Aaron V. Cicourel, and Glenn Northcutt. 1995. Walter F. Heiligenberg, Physiology: San Diego. 1995, University of California: In Memoriam. http://content.Cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=hb238nb0fs&doc.view=frames&chunk.id=div00033&toc.depth=1&toc.id=.
Carr, Catherine. 1994. Walter Heiligenberg. J Comput Neurosci 4: 263-264.
Heiligenberg, Walter. 1969. The effect of stimulus chirps on a cricket's chirping (Acheta domesticus). Z Vergl Physiol 65: 70-97.
Heiligenberg, Walter. 1965. http://www.sciencedirect.com.proxy.library.cornell.edu:2048/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6W9W-4F1RW93-W&_user=492137&_coverDate=01%2F31%2F1965&_alid=658164989&_rdoc=1&_fmt=summary&_orig=search&_cdi=6693&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=1&_acct=C000022719&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=492137&md5=d47b07e193284416ebb4eb29a436c1fbA quantitative analysis of digging movements and their relationship to aggressive behaviour in cichlids]. Anim Behav 13: 163-170 .
Heiligenberg, Walter. 1977. Principles of Electrolocation and Jamming Avoidance in Electric Fish: A Neuroethological Approach. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Heiligenberg, Walter. 1991. Neural Nets in Electric Fish. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Moortgat, K.T. The Heiligenberg Lab. http://www.cnl.salk.edu/%7Ekt/Heiligenberg_Lab.html.
Zupanc, Gunther K. H. 2004. Behavioral Neurobiology: An integrative approach. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Zupanc, Gunther K. H. and Theodore Bullock. 2006. Walter Heiligenberg: the jamming avoidance response and beyond. J Comp Physiol A 192: 561–572.