Walter Heiligenberg

Who was Walter Heiligenberg?

Walter F. Heiligenberg is best known for his contribution to neuroethology through his work on one of the best neurologically understood behavioral patterns in vertebrate, Eigenmannia. 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”. 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”.