Helmut V. B. Hirsch
Professor of Biological Sciences
Co-Director of Human Biology
Department of Biological Sciences
The University at Albany
State University of New York
1400 Washington Avenue
Albany, NY 12222/USA
518-442-4311 (telephone)
518-442-4767 (fax)
Office: Biology B13
EMail: hirsch@albany.edu
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Current Research Interests:
- Activity-dependent development of brain and behavior in Drosophila
- Circadian rhythms in Drosophila courtship
- Effects of environmental toxins on behavior of Drosophila
- The biology of ultrasmall arthropods
Joined the University at Albany faculty in 1972
- Co-founder and Co-director of Human Biology
- President's Award for Excellence in Teaching 1996
- Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching 1996
Current Teaching Interests:
- Biology 111, Introductory Biology -- an introduction to the neuronal mechanisms of behavior
- Project Renaissance -- a first-year, interdisciplinary course examining causes for the inequities in our society
- Biology 311, World Food Crisis -- an interdisciplinary approach to understanding world food problems through analyses of social, political, economic, nutritional, agricultural and environmental aspects of world hunger
- Biology 436, Sensory Ecology -- physical aspects of sensory system design
- Biology 536, Advanced Sensory Ecology -- advanced analysis of physical aspects of sensory system design
- Biology 604, Topics in Physiology -- review of recent literature on the role of activity in nervous system development
Education
- University of Chicago A.B. in Mathematics 1965
- Stanford University Ph.D. in Psychology 1970
- Johns Hopkins University Postdoctoral in Biophysics
Selected Publications
Hirsch, H.V.B. and Spinelli, D.N. (1970) Visual experience modifies distribution of horizontally and vertically oriented receptive fields in cats. Science 168, 869-871
Blake, R. and Hirsch, H.V.B. (1975) Deficits in binocular depth perception in cats following alternating monocular deprivation. Science 190, 114-116
Leventhal, A.G. and Hirsch, H.V.B. (1975) Cortical effects of early selective exposure to diagonal lines. Science 190, 902-904
Tumosa, N., Tieman, S.B. and Hirsch, H.V.B. (1980) Unequal alternating monocular deprivation causes asymmetric visual fields in cats. Science 208, 421-423
Recent Papers on Developmental Plasticity of Invertebrates:
Hirsch, H.V.B., Potter, D., Zawierucha, D., Glasser, A., Choudhri, T., Murphey, R.K. and Byers, D. (1990) Rearing in darkness changes visually-guided choice in Drosophila. Visual Neurosci. 5, 281-289
Hirsch, H.V.B., Potter, D., Zawierucha, D., Choudhri, T., Glasser, A. and Byers, D. (1991) Developmental Visual Plasticity In Drosophila. Annals New York Academy of Sciences, 627, 359-362
Hirsch, H.V.B., Barth, M., Sun, L., Sambaziotis, H., Huber, M., Possidente, D., Ghiradella, H. and Tompkins, L. (1995) Early visual experience affects mate choice of Drosophila melanogaster. Animal Behaviour, 50, 1211-1217
Barth, M., Hirsch, H.V.B. and Heisenberg, M. (1997) Rearing in different light reimes affects courtship behaviour in Drosophila melanogaster. Animal Behaviour, 53, 25-38
Barth, M., Hirsch, H.V.B., Meinertzhagen, I.A. and Heisenberg, M. (1997) Experience-Dependent Developmental Plasticity in the Optic Lobe of Drosophila melanogaster. The Journal of Neuroscience, 15, 1493-1504
Selected Reviews:
Hirsch, H.V.B. (1985) The Tunable Seer: Activity-dependent development of vision. In: Handbook of Behavioral Biology. E. Blass (Ed.), Plenum Press, New York, pp 237-295
Hirsch, H.V.B and Tompkins, L. (1994) The Flexible Fly: Experience-dependent development of complex behaviors in Drosophila melanogaster. Journal of Experimental Biology, 195, 1-18
Papers on Science Education:
Hirsch, H.V.B. and Ghiradella, H. (1994) From Canyon de Chelly to the Science Longhouse at Albany: Educators look at Contemporary Science Teaching, Winds of Change (Spring), pp. 38-43.