Erich Walther von Holst (28 November 1908 – 26 May 1962) was a German behavioral

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out chemical and ...

who was a Baltic German native of

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

Livonia Livonia, known in earlier records as Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia. By the end of the 13th century, the name was extende ...

and was related to

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

Hermann Eduard von Holst (1841–1904). In the 1950s he founded the Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology at Seewiesen,

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

Background

Holst is remembered for his work with

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

Konrad Lorenz Konrad Zacharias Lorenz (Austrian ; 7 November 1903 – 27 February 1989) was an Austrian zoology, zoologist, ethology, ethologist, and ornithologist. He shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Nikolaas Tinbergen and Karl von ...

(1903–1989) concerning the processes of

endogenous Endogeny, in biology, refers to the property of originating or developing from within an organism, tissue, or cell. For example, ''endogenous substances'', and ''endogenous processes'' are those that originate within a living system (e.g. an ...

generation of stimuli and of central coordination as a basis of

behavior Behavior (American English) or behaviour (British English) is the range of actions of Individual, individuals, organisms, systems or Artificial intelligence, artificial entities in some environment. These systems can include other systems or or ...

al physiology. This idea refuted the existing "reflex theory" which stated that this behavior was based on a chain of reflexes. Holst postulated that the basic central nervous configuration consisted of a "cell" permanently producing endogenous stimulation, but prevented from activating its effector by another "cell" that also produced endogenous stimulation which contained an inhibition effect. This inhibiting "second cell" was influenced by the

receptor Receptor may refer to: * Sensory receptor, in physiology, any neurite structure that, on receiving environmental stimuli, produces an informative nerve impulse *Receptor (biochemistry), in biochemistry, a protein molecule that receives and respond ...

, and stopped its inhibitory functionality precisely at the biologically right moment. In this fashion, normal physiological stability was achieved. From his studies of fish that use rhythmic, synchronized fin motions while maintaining an immobile body, he developed two fundamental principles to describe the coordinative properties of "neural oscillators": * ''Beharrungstendenz'': a tendency of an oscillator to maintain a steady rhythm. This would include movements such as breathing, chewing, and running, which Holst called states of absolute coordination. * ''Magneteffekt'': described as an effect that one oscillator exercises over another oscillator of a different

frequency Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. Frequency is an important parameter used in science and engineering to specify the rate of oscillatory and vibratory phenomena, such as mechanical vibrations, audio ...

so that it appears "magnetically" to draw and couple it to its own frequency. The result of the interaction and struggle between ''Beharrungstendenz'' and ''Magneteffekt'' create an infinite number of variable couplings, and in essence form a state of relative coordination.von Holst, E. (1939). ''Die relative Koordination als Phänomen und als Methode zentralnervöser Funktionsanalyse. Ergebnisse der Physiologie, biologischen Chemie und experimentellen Pharmakologie.'' 42(1):228–306. In 1950, with Horst Mittelstaedt, Holst demonstrated the "Reafference Principle" (''Das Reafferenzprinzip'') concerning how an organism is able to separate reafferent (self-generated) sensory stimuli from exafferent (externally generated) sensory stimuli. This concept largely dealt with interactive processes between the central nervous system and its periphery. At the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

, Holst did extensive research involving the mechanics of winged flight, and constructed numerous lifelike replicas of birds and other flying creatures, which included models of

pterosaur Pterosaurs are an extinct clade of flying reptiles in the order Pterosauria. They existed during most of the Mesozoic: from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous (228 million to 66 million years ago). Pterosaurs are the earli ...

s and

dragonflies A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of dragonflies are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threate ...

. With

earthworm An earthworm is a soil-dwelling terrestrial invertebrate that belongs to the phylum Annelida. The term is the common name for the largest members of the class (or subclass, depending on the author) Oligochaeta. In classical systems, they we ...

s, Holst demonstrated internal, autonomous, rhythmic behavior that is independent of environmental factors. By slicing a worm into separate segments, and attaching each segment to a sensitive

voltmeter A voltmeter is an instrument used for measuring electric potential difference between two points in an electric circuit. It is connected in parallel. It usually has a high resistance so that it takes negligible current from the circuit. A ...

, he noticed distinct, consecutive deflections on the meter which demonstrated a potential wave moving through the severed parts from the front to the end of the entire cut-up specimen at approximately the speed of a contraction wave of a wriggling earthworm. He died in Herrsching am Ammersee,

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

References

External links

Model Birds Learn to Fly

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holst, Erich Von 1908 births 1962 deaths Scientists from Riga People from Riga county People of Baltic German descent German physiologists Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Members of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina Max Planck Society people Max Planck Institute directors