biology

Martin Heisenberg

Martin Heisenberg is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Martin Heisenberg rather than just read about it. In short: Martin Heisenberg (born 7 August 1940) is a German neurobiologist and geneticist. Before his retirement in 2008, he held the professorial chair for genetics and neurobiology at the Bio Centre of the University of Würzburg.

Key takeaways

Martin Heisenberg belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Martin Heisenberg to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Martin Heisenberg from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Martin Heisenberg (born 7 August 1940) is a German neurobiologist and geneticist. Before his retirement in 2008, he held the professorial chair for genetics and neurobiology at the Bio Centre of the University of Würzburg. Since then, he continues his research with a senior professorship at the Rudolf Virchow Center of the University of Würzburg. Heisenberg studied chemistry and molecular biology in Munich, Tübingen and Pasadena. In 1975 he became Professor of genetics and neurobiology at the University of Würzburg. Heisenberg's work has focused on the neurogenetics of Drosophila (the fruit fly), with the aim of investigating the genetic foundations of the Drosophila brain by studying the effect of genetic mutations on brain function. In addition, Heisenberg contributed a number of essays on the topics of science in society, perception, as well as the question of the freedom of the will. He was elected as a member of the Leopoldina in 1989. Martin Heisenberg is a son of the physicist Werner Heisenberg, who is known for the creation of quantum mechanics and discovering the uncertainty principle. He is married to Apollonia, Countess of Eulenburg. They have four sons, including film director Benjamin Heisenberg. His grandson, Michael Heisenberg, son of Emanuel Heisenberg, is a psychologist based in Perth, Western Australia. He is the brother of physicist Jochen Heisenberg.

Distinctions 1986/87 Cornelius Wiersma Visiting Professor, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA 1989 German National Academy Leopoldina 1998 Academia Europaea 1999 Academy of Sciences Göttingen 2001 Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Science 2006 Karl Ritter von Frisch Medal of the Deutsche Zoologische Gesellschaft (DZG) 2007–2010 President International Society of Neuroethology 2009 Doctor honoris causa Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse

Publications (selection)

English original research publications (selection) M. Heisenberg, A. Borst, S. Wagner, D. Byers: Drosophila mushroom body mutants are deficient in olfactory learning. J. Neurogenetics. 2, 1-30 (1985) J.S. deBelle and M. Heisenberg: Associative odor learning in Drosophila abolished by chemical ablation of Mushroom Bodies. Science 263, 692-695 (1994) L. Liu, R. Wolf, R. Ernst, and M. Heisenberg: Context generalization in Drosophila visual learning requires the mushroom bodies. Nature 400, 753-756 (1999) T. Zars, M. Fischer, R. Schulz and M. Heisenberg: Localization of a short-term memory in Drosophila. Science 288, 672-675 (2000) M. Schwaerzel, M. Monasterioti, H. Scholz, F. Friggi-Grelin, S. Birman, and M. Heisenberg: Dopamine and octopamine differentiate between aversive and appetitive olfactory memories in Drosophila. J Neurosci 23, 10495-10502 (2003) S. Tang, R. Wolf, S. Xu and M. Heisenberg: Visual pattern recognition in Drosophila is invariant for retinal position. Science 305, 1020–1022 (2004) G. Liu, H. Seiler, A. Wen, T. Zars, K. Ito, R. Wolf, M. Heisenberg and L. Liu: Distinct memory traces for two visual features in the Drosophila brain. Nature 439, 551-556 (2006) J. Rister, D. Pauls, B. Schnell, C.Y. Ting, C.H. Lee, I. Sinakevitch, J. Morante, N.J. Strausfeld, K. Ito and M. Heisenberg: Dissection of the peripheral motion channel in the visual system of Drosophila melanogaster. Neuron 56, 155-170 (2007) P. Sareen, R. Wolf and M. Heisenberg: Attracting the attention of a fly. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 108, 7230-7235 (2011) Z. Yang, F. Bertolucci, R. Wolf, M. Heisenberg: Flies cope with uncontrollable stress by learned helplessness. Curr Biol 23, 799-803 (2013) N.S. Chouhan, R. Wolf, C. Helfrich-Förster, M. Heisenberg: Flies remember the time of day. Curr Biol 25, 1619–1624 (2015)

Books published, Editorship M. Heisenberg, R. Wolf: Vision in Drosophila. Vol. XII, of: Studies of Brain Function, V. Braitenberg, Ed., Springer-Verlag Berlin, Heidelberg, New York (1984) M. Heisenberg (Ed.). Special issue Mushroom body. Learning & Memory 5, (1998)

English reviews and essays (selection) M. Heisenberg: Voluntariness (Willkürfähigkeit) and the general organization of behavior. In: Flexibility and Constraints in Behavioral Systems, R.J. Greenspan and C.P. Kyriacou, eds.; pp147–156, John Wiley & Sons Ltd. (1994) M. Heisenberg: Mushroom body memoir: From maps to models. Nature Rev Neurosci 4, 266-275 (2003) M. Heisenberg: Is free will an illusion? Nature 459, 1052-1053 (2009) B. Gerber, H. Tanimoto, and M. Heisenberg: An engram found? Evaluating the evidence from fruit flies. Curr Op Neurobiol 14, 737-744 (2004) M. Heisenberg: Erich Buchner. J Neurogenet 24,:93-94 (2010) M. Heisenberg: The beauty of the network in the brain and the origin of the mind in the control of behavior. J Neurogenet 28, 389-99 (2014)

German reviews and essays (selection) M. Heisenberg: Initiale Aktivität und Willkürverhalten bei Tieren. Naturwissenschaften 70, 70-78 (1983) M. Heisenberg: Freiheit aus der Sicht der Verhaltensforschung In: Ordnung und Unordnung. G. Becker, H. Becker, L. Huber, Eds.; pp. 74–82, Beltz Verlag (1985) M. Heisenberg: Über Universalien der Wahrnehmung und ihre genetischen Grundlagen. In: Mannheimer Forum 89/90 H.v.Ditfurth, E.P. Fischer, Eds.; Bd. 1104, pp. 11–69. Piper München, Zürich M. Heisenberg: Freiheit als Eigenschaft des Verhaltens. Nova Acta Leopoldina NF 86, 79-95 (2002) M. Heisenberg: Die Pilzkörper der Insekten – Trojanisches Pferd der funktionellen Hirnforschung? Neuroforum 2, 179-186 (2002)

Academic theses M. Heisenberg: Eine neue Genfunktion des Bakteriophagen fr. Dissertation, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen (1966)

About Martin Heisenberg Drosophila Neurogenetics: The Heisenberg impact. E. Buchner and C.F. Wu, Eds.; J. Neurogenetics 23, 1-2, (2009)

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Martin Heisenberg

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Martin Heisenberg claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Martin Heisenberg before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Martin Heisenberg ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Martin Heisenberg

In research: Martin Heisenberg appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Martin Heisenberg in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Martin Heisenberg is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1940 births, German geneticists, German neuroscientists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Martin Heisenberg outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Martin Heisenberg in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Martin Heisenberg means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Martin Heisenberg out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Martin Heisenberg in simple terms?

Why does Martin Heisenberg matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Martin Heisenberg?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Martin Heisenberg.