Jacob Steiner (Steiner Erik, Budapest) (1927 - 2014) was a professor at

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

, and a researcher of the

physiology Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...

of the

sense A sense is a biological system used by an organism for sensation, the process of gathering information about the surroundings through the detection of Stimulus (physiology), stimuli. Although, in some cultures, five human senses were traditio ...

Academia

He received his Ph.D. from

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis''; German: ''Universität Basel'') is a public research university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest univ ...

in 1964. He became a lecturer in 1965, a senior lecturer in 1974, an associate professor in 1979 and became emeritus in 1996. He was a visiting associate professor to the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

. He was a visiting professor to

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

. He was a visiting scholar at Monell Chemical Senses Center, in Philadelphia.

Research interests

He did research on the

of the

senses A sense is a biological system used by an organism for sensation, the process of gathering information about the surroundings through the detection of stimuli. Although, in some cultures, five human senses were traditionally identified as su ...

taste The gustatory system or sense of taste is the sensory system that is partially responsible for the perception of taste. Taste is the perception stimulated when a substance in the mouth biochemistry, reacts chemically with taste receptor cells l ...

and smell in man and in animals and their

clinical trial Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human subject research, human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel v ...

. On the behavioral,

electrophysiological Electrophysiology (from ee the Electron#Etymology, etymology of "electron" ; and ) is the branch of physiology that studies the electrical properties of biological cell (biology), cells and tissues. It involves measurements of voltage change ...

and autonomous reactions to chemical stimuli. And on the developmental aspects of oral functions.

Research projects

Behavioral Behavior (American English) or behaviour (British English) is the range of actions of individuals, organisms, systems or artificial entities in some environment. These systems can include other systems or organisms as well as the inanimate p ...

reactions to chemical stimuli (

and smell) in

autistic Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing di ...

people. *Behavioral response to chemical stimuli in man and animals: "Steiner’s research, which involved infants only a few hours old, clearly shows that humans are born with the capacity to distinguish between various tastes. Jacob E. Steiner, a taste researcher at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, almost all babies, when tasting sweet stimuli, show a ’’marked relaxation of the face, resembling an expression of ’satisfaction.’ ’’ This expression is often followed by a slight smile and even ’’eager licking of the upper lip.’’ When the babies were fed a bitter solution, on the other hand, their facial expressions turned to ’’dislike and disgust or rejection.’’" New York Times April 16.1989. Can Society Tell You What Tastes Good? "The meticulous observation, semiquantitative analysis and evaluation of behavioral reactions is proposed as one of the most relevant and valid avenues of investigation on the workup of chemosensory stimuli by the living organism. Behavioral manifestations, are probably even in a much easier way "readable" indicators of pleasure and displeasure than any other event-related bodily manifestation. In fact, the phenomenon of bacterial

chemotaxis Chemotaxis (from ''chemical substance, chemo-'' + ''taxis'') is the movement of an organism or entity in response to a chemical stimulus. Somatic cells, bacteria, and other single-cell organism, single-cell or multicellular organisms direct thei ...

(as usually divided in positive- respectively negative chemotaxis) belong to the same category or kind of innate, probably even inherited reflectory mechanisms expressing " acceptance" - 'indifference' and 'aversion' of the organism." Jacob E. Steiner

Publications

*Taste-acceptance and taste aversion reflected by behavioral 1997 *Taste and smell in familial dysautonomia 1997 *Specific androstenone-anosmia in patients with impaired sperm 1996 *Taste-induced facial expressions in apes and humans 1995 *Book review: Pleasure: The Politics and The Reality 1995 *Behavioral responses to tastes and odors in man and animals. 1994 *Behavior manifestations indicative of hedonics and intensity in 1994 *Taste and odor: Reactivity in depressive disorders: A 1993 *Taste- and odor-reactivity in elderly demented patients 1992 *Olfactory perception of androstenone is related to male 1992 *Behavioral reactions to gustatory stimuli in young chicks 1990 *Analysis of betaine-induced feeding behavior in the Prawn 1990 *Sensory experience induced by

nitrous oxide Nitrous oxide (dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide), commonly known as laughing gas, nitrous, or factitious air, among others, is a chemical compound, an Nitrogen oxide, oxide of nitrogen with the Chemical formula, formula . At room te ...

analgesia 1990

Rescued 1945

Lars Ernster, Edith Ernster and Jacob Steiner lived during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in the office of the Swedish Embassy in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

Üllöi ut 2–4. Initially, there were 250 workers; later about 400 people working around the clock (Edith Ernster remembers

Raoul Wallenberg Raoul Gustaf Wallenberg (4 August 1912 – disappeared 17 January 1945)He is presumed to have died in 1947, although the circumstances of his death are not clear and this date has been disputed. Some reports claim he was alive years later. In ...

). During the night of 8 January 1945, all inhabitants were dragged away by an

Arrow Cross Party The Arrow Cross Party (, , abbreviated NYKP) was a far-right Hungarian ultranationalist party led by Ferenc Szálasi, which formed a government in Hungary they named the Government of National Unity. They were in power from 15 October 1944 to ...

executing brigade of the city commandership near to the Danube banks. At midnight, twenty policemen with drawn bayonets broke into the Arrow Cross house and rescued everyone. Among the saved persons, Lars Ernster returned to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and Jacob Steiner went to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. Lars Ernster was a member of the Board of the

Nobel Foundation The Nobel Foundation () is a private institution founded on 29 June 1900 to manage the finances and administration of the Nobel Prizes. The foundation is based on the last will of Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite. It also holds Nobel Sym ...

from 1977 to 1988. Jacob Steiner is a professor at the

. Information from Jacob Steiner after he has read this page: On December 25, 1944, Jacob Steiner's father was shot dead by Arrow Cross militiamen, falling into the Danube as a result. His father had been an officer in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and spent four years as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. Memorial: Shoes on the Danube Promenade

Sources

*''The New York Times'', April 16 1989, "Can Society Tell You What Tastes Good?" *

Faculty Research Interests
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steiner, Jacob Autism researchers History of Budapest Hungarian Jews Hungarian scientists Jewish Hungarian history Living people Raoul Wallenberg Year of birth missing (living people)