Pioneers of German Physhology - Essay Example

Johannes Muller was a German physiologist who lived from 1801-1858. He attended the of Bohn where he learned his appreciation for the study of anatomy and physiology. He had a viewpoint which consisted of both an empirical method as well as a naturalistic approach. His focus was on sensation and perception, most specifically with experimentation on visual processing. He discovered that each sensory organ responds to different stimuli in a particular way, what he deemed specific energy. He also had an interest in pathology as well as taxonomy.

Toward the end of his life, he suffered from multiple clinical psychological disorders such as depression which could have possibly lead to his supposed suicide "Johannes Peter Muller." Encyclop?dia Britannica. Encyclop?dia Britannica Online. Encyclop?dia Britannica, 2011. Web. 28 Feb. 2011. . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZ3401XVYww . Emil du Bois-Reymond was a German physiologist who lived from 1818-1896. He specialized in neural electrical communication and is considered to be the founder of modern electrophysiology.

He was a student under Muller and studied at the University of Berlin. During this time, he took an interest in studying how fish were able to produce electrical currents. By studying this, he was able to gain an understanding of how muscle contractions work, which was through negative variation. "Emil Heinrich Du Bois-Reymond." Encyclop?dia Britannica. Encyclop?dia Britannica Online. Encyclop?dia Britannica, 2011. Web. 28 Feb. 2011. . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CepeYFvqmk4 Hermann Von Helmholtz was a German scientist who lived from 1821 to 1894.

A scientist of many disciplines, he focused specifically on physiology, mathematics, and meteorology. He had a chance to study under Muller and after was assigned as a military surgeon. He had many philosophies but the guiding one was that the way in which we perceive nature and stimuli is to break it down into it’s basic components and principles. His research in chemistry and physics ultimately resulted in one of the most fundamental laws which is still held today, the law of conservation of energy.

"Hermann von Helmholtz." Encyclop?dia Britannica. Encyclop?dia Britannica Online. Encyclop?dia Britannica, 2011. Web. 28 Feb. 2011. . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVxEEn3w688&feature=related Ivan Sechenov was a Russian physiologist who was specifically interested in neuroscience and neurophysiology. He lived from 1825-1905. He originally started out as a mechanical engineer in the military before he moved on to medical school. The biggest portion of his study and research went into how electrical signals were transmitted in the brain.

His contribution to psychology and physiology was in the study in the elements of thought. He postulated that elements of thinking are internalized as motor responses. "Sechenov, Ivan M." International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. 1968. Encyclopedia.com. 28 Feb. 2011 . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qo3BoxUhgzQ Gustav Fechner was a German physicist and physiologist who lived from 1801-1887. He is considered a key proponent in the development of the branch of psychology known as psychophysics.

His work was deeply influenced by philosophy, more so than scientific empiricism. His primary theory which he devoted to sensation and perception was the just-noticeable difference which states that there is a ratio between 2 stimuli that at a specific threshold can be interpreted differently. "Gustav Theodor Fechner." Encyclop?dia Britannica. Encyclop?dia Britannica Online. Encyclop?dia Britannica, 2011. Web. 28 Feb. 2011. . http://people.usd.edu/~schieber/coglab/WebersLaw.html