| Sigmund Exner | |
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Sigmund Exner |
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| Born | April 5, 1846 |
| Died | February 5, 1926 |
| Nationality | Austria |
| Occupation | physiologist |
| Known for | localization |
Sigmund Exner-Ewarten (April 5, 1846 – February 5, 1926) was an Austrian physiologist who was a native of Vienna. He was the son of philosopher Franz Serafin Exner (1802-1853), and had three renowned brothers; law professor Adolf Exner (1841-1894), physicist Karl Exner (1842-1914) and physicist Franz Exner (1849-1926).
He studied in Vienna under Ernst Wilhelm von Brücke (1819-1892), and in Heidelberg under Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1894). In 1870 he received his degree and subsequently became an assistant at the physiological institute at the University of Vienna. In 1891 he succeeded Ernst von Brücke as professor of physiology and director of the institute of physiology. During his career he received honorary doctorates from the Universities of Leipzig and Athens.
Sigmund Exner is known for his work in comparative physiology, and perception psychology from a physiological standpoint. He conducted important research on localization of behavioral functionality in the brain, in particular studies on the functional architecture of the visual cortex. He performed investigations on the sensitivity of retinal regeneration, color contrast, hue adaptation and apparent motion.[1][2]
He explained how the compound eye functions, and in 1891 published "Die Physiologie der facettierten Augen von Krebsen und Insekten", describing the compound eye physiology of insects and crustaceans. In 1899 Exner co-founded the Phonogrammarchiv in Vienna, which was an archive for recording acoustic phenomena for scientific purposes.
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