Étienne Lombard (; 1869–1920) was a French

otolaryngologist Otorhinolaryngology ( , abbreviated ORL and also known as otolaryngology, otolaryngology–head and neck surgery (ORL–H&N or OHNS), or ear, nose, and throat (ENT)) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the surgical an ...

and

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

who discovered the

Lombard effect 250 px, noise polluted urban surroundings than quieter ones to help overcome the auditory masking that would otherwise impair other birds hearing their bird vocalization">song. Although great tits achieve a change in song frequency by switching ...

, in which a person's

voice The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound produ ...

is involuntarily raised when speaking in a loud environment.Lombard É. (1909). Letter to the Academy of Sciences, No. 7527, August 30 (cited by Lane and Tranel 1971 page 678). He was at the Lariboisiere Hospital, the first "oto-rhino-laryngologiste des Hopitaux" in France. He developed new surgical techniques and a new form of bone forceps. During World War I he researched the effects of air blasts upon 600 aviators but was unable to continue this research due to an illness that resulted in his early death. The "symptom of the raised voice" was discovered in 1909. It was made possible by the invention of a device by the Viennese physician

Robert Bárány Robert Bárány (, ; 22 April 1876 – 8 April 1936) was an Austrian-born otologist. He received the 1914 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on the physiology and pathology of the vestibular apparatus. Life and career Bárán ...

that delivered an intense

noise Noise is sound, chiefly unwanted, unintentional, or harmful sound considered unpleasant, loud, or disruptive to mental or hearing faculties. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrat ...

to only one ear and so allowed the

monaural Monaural sound or monophonic sound (often shortened to mono) is sound intended to be heard as if it were emanating from one position. This contrasts with stereophonic sound or ''stereo'', which uses two separate audio channels to reproduce so ...

examination of the other ear. Using this device Lombard asked a person to start talking in

conversation Conversation is interactive communication between two or more people. The development of conversational skills and etiquette is an important part of socialization. The development of conversational skills in a new language is a frequent focus ...

while hearing noise. He found that when the noise began, the person spoke louder, and when the noise stopped, the voice returned to a normal level.^{pp. 678–680} The finding was reported to the

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...

in August 1909, and the following year in April to the

French Academy of Medicine French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), a ...

. However, in 1910 German publications attributed this discovery to Robert Bárány, which led to a dispute in print between them. Priority was established when the English physician, Donald Schearer, described how he carried news of the discovery from Paris to Vienna in November 1909.^{pp. 677–678} Bárány received the

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine () is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, acco ...

in 1914, for other work. Lombard's discovery is important for four reasons. * It provides a means of detecting

malingering Malingering is the fabrication, feigning, or exaggeration of physical or psychological symptoms designed to achieve a desired outcome, such as personal gain, relief from duty or work, avoiding arrest, receiving medication, or mitigating prison se ...

by simulated

hearing loss Hearing loss is a partial or total inability to hear. Hearing loss may be present at birth or acquired at any time afterwards. Hearing loss may occur in one or both ears. In children, hearing problems can affect the ability to acquire spo ...

* It underlies research into speech communication in noise (an important practical problem) * It helps researchers understand how imitation and speaking are altered by

auditory feedback Auditory feedback (AF) is an aid used by humans to control speech production and singing by helping the individual verify whether the current production of speech or singing is in accordance with his acoustic-auditory intention. This process is po ...

* It identifies a role in speech of processes involving

servomechanism In mechanical and control engineering, a servomechanism (also called servo system, or simply servo) is a control system for the position and its time derivatives, such as velocity, of a mechanical system. It often includes a servomotor, and ...

. He is buried in the

Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (, , formerly , ) is the largest cemetery in Paris, France, at . With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Buried at Père Lachaise are many famous figures in the ...

in Paris. A photo of him is reprinted in .

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lombard, Etienne French otolaryngologists 1920 deaths 1869 births Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery