Peter Huttenlocher
| Peter Huttenlocher | |
|---|---|
| Born |
February 23, 1931 Oberlahnstein bei Kolbenz |
| Died | August 15, 2013 (aged 82) Chicago |
| Residence | United States |
| Fields | Neurology, neuroscience |
| Alma mater | University of Buffalo |
| Known for | Development of the brain in infants |
| Spouse | Janellen Burns |
| Children | three |
Peter Huttenlocher (23 February 1931 – 15 August 2013) was a pediatric neurologist and neuroscientist who discovered how the brain develops in children. He is considered to be one of the fathers of developmental cognitive neuroscience.
He discovered that synapses are created in the first few months of a child's development, and then "pruned", by examining the brains of about 50 people, mostly infants and young children who had died unexpectedly, but also a few adults, one of them age 90. Using an electron microscope to count image samples of material, and then manually counting the synapses, he showed that synaptic density was low at birth, about 2,500 connections per neuron. It increased rapidly to levels 50 to 60 percent above adult levels, and then gradually declined, falling to typical adult values.
He had originally intended to study defective parts of the brain, but found that: "Paradoxically, in our early studies, the findings in the normal population were more interesting than the abnormal population." The individuals with intellectual disability he studied were discovered to have the same number of synapses as those without, but of a different shape.
This "pruning" mechanism removes redundant connections in the brain. Huttenlocher found that in individuals with intellectual disabilities, this mechanism works differently.
Huttenlocher also became an early authority on Reye's syndrome, and in 1987 launched the first clinic in the United States for children with tuberous sclerosis.
His findings have influenced government policy and parents’ priorities, putting more emphasis on the importance of early education. He correlated the acquisition of skills and the development of the parts of the brain associated with them.
Huttenlocher was born in Oberlahnstein bei Koblenz on 23 February 1931. His parents became divorced when he was young, and his mother, Else, an opera singer, refused to join the Nazi Party and fled to the United States in 1937. Peter and his brothers were raised by their father, Richard,who was a chemist. The experience of growing up under Nazism contributed to his lifelong interest in ethics and morality.
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