Donald Hebb: Reinventing His Path

Hebb faced difficult times personally (from abandoning his dream of being a novelist and taking on rural jobs to support himself, or overcoming serious health problems that led him to spend a year bedridden, to losing his young wife), but transformed each of these challenges into opportunities to learn.

• He used his recovery time to study the works that laid the foundation for his innovative ideas.
• He prepared the ground for a legacy that shaped Psychology and Neuroscience as we know them today.

The trajectory of Donald Hebb teaches us a timeless lesson: "Investing in raising the level of scientific debate is always a lasting legacy!"

Hebb dared to explore topics such as thought, perception and intelligence (areas neglected by theorists of the time) and challenged dominant paradigms with elegance and solid evidence.

• He questioned the dominant ideas of behaviourism
• He paved the way for what we now know as the "Cognitive Revolution"

A milestone that redefined science: His magnificent book "The Organization of Behavior", first published in 1949

This visionary work laid the essential foundations for innovative concepts such as synaptic plasticity and cell assemblies.

• Innovative ideas that continue to be the pillars of modern neuroscience
• Hebb revolutionised our understanding of human thought and behaviour, and even paved the way for new approaches in psychology and the study of the brain.

Hebb's Law: A Pillar of Modern Neuroscience

Imagine being able to describe the basics of how we learn and form memories. That's exactly what Donald Hebb did with his famous "Hebb's Law":

• "If neuron A repeatedly stimulates neuron B, this leads to structural changes that increase the efficiency of the connection between them.”
• The more a connection between neurons is used, the stronger and more lasting it becomes: an essential principle for learning and memory formation.

From a frustrated novelist to a pillar of modern neuroscience, Hebb left us with a reminder: "bold ideas can leave a legacy". In fact, science advances because people like Donald Hebb dare to think differently.

Psychology is made by people, and each psychologist transmits, through their own history, a world of challenges and innovations that shapes what we know today. In this section of FEP-UCP, we will explore the life and contributions of psychologists who left a legacy and revolutionised our understanding of human behaviour.

We will bring fascinating stories about the minds that defined Psychology and we start with Donald Hebb, a suggestion by Patrícia Oliveira-Silva, deputy director and professor at FEP-UCP and Director of the Human Neurobehavioral Laboratory | HNL.

Who will be next? Stay tuned!