Max von Frey
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Maximilian (Max) Ruppert Franz von Frey (16 November 1852 – 25 January 1932) was an Austrian-German
physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemica ...
who was born in
Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...
. He received his doctorate from the
University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December ...
in 1877, and subsequently worked at
Carl Ludwig Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig (; 29 December 1816 – 23 April 1895) was a German physician and physiologist. His work as both a researcher and teacher had a major influence on the understanding, methods and apparatus used in almost all branches ...
's Physiological Institute in
Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...
. Later he was a professor of
physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemic ...
at the Universities of
Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg ...
and Zurich. Frey's primary work in Leipzig dealt with the
circulatory system The blood circulatory system is a system of organs that includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood which is circulated throughout the entire body of a human or other vertebrate. It includes the cardiovascular system, or vascular system, tha ...
, and he is credited with developing an early prototype of a heart-lung machine. He is remembered for his work involving
cutaneous Skin is the layer of usually soft, flexible outer tissue covering the body of a vertebrate animal, with three main functions: protection, regulation, and sensation. Other animal coverings, such as the arthropod exoskeleton, have different d ...
sensory
mechanoreceptor A mechanoreceptor, also called mechanoceptor, is a sensory receptor that responds to mechanical pressure or distortion. Mechanoreceptors are innervated by sensory neurons that convert mechanical pressure into electrical signals that, in animals, a ...
s. During the 1890s, Frey proposed that pain is an independent tactile quality, alongside touch, heat and cold, and that it is associated with stimulation of high-threshold
free nerve ending A free nerve ending (FNE) or bare nerve ending, is an unspecialized, afferent nerve fiber sending its signal to a sensory neuron. ''Afferent'' in this case means bringing information from the body's periphery toward the brain. They function as cut ...
s. He described the skin as a mosaic of discrete spots, each sensitive to one or another of these stimuli. He created a unique type of esthesiometer, now referred to as a
von Frey hair An esthesiometer (British spelling aesthesiometer) is a device for measuring the tactile sensitivity of the skin (or mouth, or eye, etc.). The measure of the degree of tactile sensitivity is called aesthesiometry. The device was invented by Edward ...
, which consisted of various calibrated monofilaments. These filaments can be used to determine the threshold force required to produce the sensation of touch or pain.


References


External links


UCLA Library
Pioneer Neurophysiology
Essay on Sensory Locations

Von Frey Hair Aesthesiometer
Von Frey Aesthesiometer {{DEFAULTSORT:Frey, Maximilian von 1852 births 1932 deaths German physiologists Physicians from Salzburg Academic staff of the University of Würzburg Academic staff of the University of Zurich