The Faculty of Health and Social Sciences (FHSS) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) recently organized a Nobel Laureate Lecture conducted by Prof. Torsten Wiesel, Nobel Prize Winner in Physiology or Medicine in 1981. Titled "Development of the Visual System: Nature vs. Nurture", the lecture has attracted an enthusiastic participation of around 700 university and secondary school teachers and students.
Prof. George Woo, Dean of FHSS, said, "Our Faculty encourages staff and students to keep abreast of the latest in health development and research. We also provide them with vast opportunities to participate in overseas academic exchange in order to broaden their outlook and enrich their thinking for further advancement in study and research. We hope that this Nobel Laureate Lecture will broaden participants' perspectives in science, and to inspire them to explore health science topics that interest them."
Prof. Wiesel explained in the lecture that during a mammal's predetermined critical period of postnatal development, its neural connections for vision can be modulated by environmental influences. Such sensitivity of the organism's nervous system to the effects of its experiences may explain the underlying mechanism by which the animal adapts to its environment during that critical period.
After the lecture, facilitator Prof. To Chi-ho of PolyU's School of Optometry conducted a discussion session between Prof. Wiesel and the audience. This further provided the participants with more glimpses of the complex and fascinating visual and neural developments of mammals.
Prof. Torsten Wiesel jointly won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1981 with his colleague David H. Hubel for their groundbreaking work on visual information transmission and processing in the cortex. Their findings were subsequently used by others to aid research in and treatment of childhood cataracts and strabismus, as well as research in cortical plasticity. Prof. Wiesel is currently President Emeritus of The Rockefeller University and Vincent and Brooke Astor Professor Emeritus of its Laboratory of Neurobiology.
