Walle Nauta

Walle Nauta Jetze Harinx ( born June 8, 1916 in Medan, then the Dutch East Indies, † 24 March 1994 in Cambridge, Massachusetts) was a Dutch- American neuroanatomist.

Life

Nauta studied at Leiden University in 1942 and earned an MD as graduation from medical school in 1945 and a Ph.D. at the University of Utrecht in anatomy and neurophysiology. During the German occupation of the Netherlands (1940-1945) hidden Walle Nauta and his wife, Ellie, a Jewish girl in the 1 ½ -room apartment where the couple lived Nauta with his children. For this purpose, both received - Walle Nauta posthumously - 2008 the honorary title " Righteous Among the Nations ". Nauta has taught at the University of Utrecht (1941-1946), Leiden University (1946/1947) and at the University of Zurich ( 1947-1951 ).

1951 Nauta went to the Neuropsychiatric Research Unit of the Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, DC. Additionally, he received in 1955 a professor of anatomy at the University of Maryland, College Park. 1964 Nauta moved to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT ), where he became a professor of neuroanatomy at the Department of Psychology (later Department of Brain Research and Cognitive Sciences ). Since 1975 he has also worked in the neuroanatomy of McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts. 1986 Nauta was given emeritus status. His latest textbook published in 1993.

Nauta had two daughters and a son.

Work

Nauta is considered one of the founders of modern neuroscience and neuroanatomy. He was able to make fundamental contributions to the understanding of the structure of the brain and its internal connections. Nauta developed a method to represent non- myelinated nerve fibers. Using his method were different systems of the forebrain ( forebrain ) of mammals - are mapped - especially the limbic system and striatum. The method for staining degenerating nerve fibers developed by him and later modified by others is called Nauta ( Gygax ) Silberimprägniermethode.

Awards (selection)

Writings (selection )

  • W. Nauta, W. Haymaker: Hypothalamic nuclei and fiber connections. In: W. Haymaker E. Anderson, W. Nauta (eds): The Hypothalamus. Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, IL, 1969.
  • Contemporary research methods in neuroanatomy. In 1970.
  • Fundamental neuroanatomy. 1986, ISBN 0-7167-1722-0.
  • Neuroanatomy. 1993, ISBN 3-7643-3539-4.
Cambridge (Massachusetts) Neuropsychiatry Belmont (Massachusetts) Prosencephalon American Academy of Arts and Sciences National Academy of Sciences American Philosophical Society NAS Award in the Neurosciences Name Authority File
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