Rudolf Heidenhain
 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (July 2021) |
Rudolf Peter Heinrich Heidenhain (German: anatomist.
Academic career
He studied medicine at the Universities of
Halle, and worked in the laboratory of Alfred Wilhelm Volkmann (1801-1877). While serving an assistant at Halle, he made improvements on Hermann Welcker’s procedure for measurement of blood volume
.
In 1859 he attained the chair of physiology at the
Pflügers Archiv on a large variety of special topics in the field of his studies.[1]
Work in muscle physiology
Heidenhain is remembered for his work involving
thermoelectrics
. He demonstrated the muscles' self-regulatory process for expenditure of energy, as well as its ability to "economize" energy. Heidenhain showed that total output energy (heat and mechanical work) increases with an increased load, in other words, a muscle freed more energy when resistance to its contraction was greater. Also, when a muscle was fatigued, it had the ability to work more economically. Heidenhain's research also dealt with the study of heat production during muscular activity. He was able to detect and measure a small increase of temperature during the slightest muscular movement.
Other contributions
Heidenhain did extensive research concerning the secretory and absorption processes of
salivary glands
.
Heidenhain conducted scientific studies of
hypnotism, having been impressed by the public hypnotist, Carl Hansen. His research was from a physiological basis, and he explained hypnosis in terms of inhibition of the cortex
. Later, Ivan Pavlov carried on Heidenhain's physiological studies of hypnosis.
Written works
- Historisches und Experimentelles über Muskeltonus, 1856 - treatise on muscle tone.
- Beitrag zur Anatomie der Peyer’schen Drüsen, 1859 - Contribution to the anatomy of Peyer's glands.
- Physiologische Studien, 1856 - Physiological studies.
- Studien des Physiologischen Instituts zu Breslau, 1861–1868 - Studies of the Physiological Institute at Breslau.
- Mechanische Leistung, Wärmeentwickelung und Stoffumsatz bei der Muskelthätigkeit, 1864 - Mechanical power, heat evolution, and metabolism involving muscle activity.
- Die Vivisektion im Dienste der Heilkunde, 1879 - Vivisection in the service of medicine.
- Der sogenannte thierische Magnetismus. Physiologische Beobachtungen, 1880 - The so-called animal magnetism. Physiological observations.
- Die Vivisektion im Dienste der Gesundheit, 1884 - Vivisection in the service of health.
References
Bibliography
- Rudolf Heidenhain @ Who Named It
- List of written works copied from an article on Rudolf Heidenhain at the German Wikipedia.
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