academy's chairman and interim director in 2001-2002. Research The Hubel and Wiesel experiments greatly expanded the scientific knowledge of sensory processing. In one experiment, done in 1959, they inserted a microelectrode into the primary visual cortex of an anesthetized cat. They then projected patterns of light and dark on a screen in front of the cat. They found that some neurons fired rapidly when presented with lines at one angle, while others responded best to another angle. They called these neurons "simple cells." Still other neurons, which they termed "complex cells," responded best to lines of a certain angle moving in one direction. These studies showed how the visual system builds an image from simple stimuli into more complex representations. Hubel and Wiesel were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1981 for their work on ocular dominance columns in the 1960s and 1970s. By depriving kittens from using one eye, they showed that columns in the primary visual cortex receiving inputs from the other eye took over the areas that would normally receive input from the deprived eye. These kittens also did not develop areas receiving input from both eyes, a feature needed for binocular vision. Hubel and Wiesel's experiments showed that the ocular dominance develops irreversibly early in childhood development. These studies opened the door for the understanding and treatment of childhood cataracts and strabismus. They were also important in the study of cortical plasticity. Awards and honors Wiesel is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, and a foreign fellow of the Indian National Science Academy. He also holds the following awards and honors: Honorary degree, University of Pavia in 2006. Order of the Rising Sun, Grand Cordon, 2009 (Japan). Honorary Doctoral Degree in Science, University of Cambodia in 2010 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1981 Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize from Columbia University, in 1978 Elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1967 Dr. Jules C. Stein Award in 1971 Ferrier Medal and Lecture from the Royal Society in 1971 Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award in 1972 Freidenwald Award in 1975 Karl Spencer Lashley Award in 1977 Ledlie Prize in 1980 Elected a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1980 Elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1982 Elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in