Zhang Xiangtong: Becoming smarter and more dexterous through practice

Originally published in 2008

"Leave a trace wherever you go."

-Zhang Xiangtong

Editor's Note: Zhang Xiangtong is a neurophysiologist born in Zhengding, Hebei province, in November 1907. He graduated from the Physiology Department of Peking University in 1933, and received his doctorate degree from the Physiology Department of the Medical School of Yale University in the US in 1946. He worked successively as  researcher at Shanghai Physiology Institute, and researcher, dean and honorary dean of Shanghai Brain Research Institute. In 1957 he was elected a member of Chinese Academy of Sciences. He was a consultative editor of the US journals Neurophysiology and International Neural Pharmacology. He is also a foreign honorary academician of Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium, member of the central committee of International Brain Research Organization, and neurological consultant of World Health Organization.

Despite his advanced age and poor health, Zhang Xiangtong goes to the nearby institute every day. He likes to listen to the children's song, "You become smarter and more dexterous through practice." "This is an axiom," he tells the people around him, with a smile.

The brain, the source of our unending joy and sadness, has puzzled man for thousands of years. China started late on brain research, but we have an outstanding scientist who has diligently worked in the fields of neurophysiology and neuroanatomy for more than 60 years. Zhang has made important contributions to neurophysiology both at home and abroad. He was the first to discover the dendrite potential, which was only later verified by experiments. International physiology circles named the Light Intensification phenomenon the "Zhang Effect" after its first discoverer, Zhang Xiangtong. In 1992, he received a lifetime achievement award from the International Neural Network Society because of his "important contributions to our understanding of the biological neural network."

"He is the doyen of our profession, a real scholar," said academician Cen Yizhang, director of the Medical College of Zhejiang University. "Mr Zhang introduced me to the field of neurophysiology."

Zhang Xiangtong has published five treatises, and intends to publish more works. He says that work keeps him happy and healthy.

His one-time student Academician Wu Jianping was elected the president of Shanghai Institute for Biological Sciences and the director of Institute of Brain Science, and another former student, Academician Chen Yizhang, is employed as a professor at Zhejiang University.

Fifty years ago, when Zhang Xiangtong was studying at Yale University, one of his tutors took him to Australia to collect marine animal samples. His tutor pointed to a cuttlefish and said, "Leave a trace wherever you go, like the cuttlefish." This has become his life-long motto, and Zhang Xiangtong has left traces all over the world.