Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotes by Herbert Spencer Gasser (American Physiologist)

Herbert Spencer Gasser (1888–1963) was an American physiologist. This winner of the 1944 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is celebrated for his fundamental discoveries concerning the functions of different kinds of nerve fibers.

Born in Plattville, Wisconsin, Gasser graduated in medicine from Johns Hopkins University in 1915 and moved in 1916 to the physiology department at Washington University in St. Louis to rejoin Joseph Erlanger, the instructor from his student years, thus beginning a fruitful collaboration in neurophysiology.

Gasser and Erlanger used powerful new electrical equipment to dissect and analyze the nature and function of the nerve fibers, sharing the 1944 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Studying the barely detectable electrical impulses carried by isolated mammalian nerve fibers, they used an oscilloscope to show that the velocity of a nerve impulse is proportional to the fiber’s diameter. They demonstrated that different nerve fibers transmit specific kinds of impulses, such as pain, cold, or heat.

In 1931, Gasser moved to Cornell University as a professor of pharmacology, and in 1935, he was appointed director of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research in New York. His personal research continued into nerve trunks and nerve fibers, having a significant bearing on understanding the physiology of sensation.

More: Wikipedia READ: Works by Herbert Spencer Gasser

Forget the times of your distress, but never forget what they taught you.
Herbert Spencer Gasser
Topics: Difficulties, Adversity

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