People: Paul Bach-y-Rita

TCNL is dedicated to the memory of Paul Bach-y-Rita, M.D., neuroplasticity pioneer and originator of the present line of research conducted by TCNL personnel. Paul's interest in both neurorehabilitation and sensory substitution were based on his conviction that the brain is plastic — functionally adaptable and changeable in response to injury or functional demand. This conviction, heresy during the early part of his academic career in the 1960s but now widely accepted and aggressively studied in the neuroscience community, did not deter him from demonstrating the first successful tactile vision system, published in the journal Nature in 1969 (P. Bach-y-Rita, C. C. Collins, F. A. Saunders, B. White and L. Scadden, "Vision substitution by tactile image projection," Nature, vol. 221, pp. 963-964) and resulting in his second book (P. Bach-y-Rita, Brain Mechanisms in Sensory Substitution. New York: Academic, 1972.). Subsequent theoretical development of non-synaptic theories of information transfer in the brain resulted in his third book (P. Bach-y-Rita, Nonsynaptic Diffusion Neurotransmission and Late Brain Reorganization. New York: Demos-Vermande, 1995). It is this conceptual framework — brain plasticity as the underlying principle for both sensory substitution and functional recovery from brain damage — that inspired the the formation of TCNL, as the latest incarnation of Paul's unnamed laboratory established in 1985 with Paul's recruitment to the University of Wisconsin-Madison as Chair of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine. Paul's bold vision, which we are only beginning to appreciate, continues to inspire the TCNL staff, students, and collaborators today.

Last known list of publications by Paul Bach-y-Rita

Memorial Lecture Series and Fund

Paul Bach-y-Rita is honored by a memorial lecture series and fund administered by the University of Wisconsin Foundation.

In Memoriam

Paul's life and career are chronicled in a series of resolutions and articles on the in memoriam page.