Viennese objection
Max Wien's (1905) criticism of Helmholtz's resonance theory of hearing became known in the literature under the term Vienna's objection .
The Helmholtz resonance theory of hearing assumed that "fibers" from the base of the cochlea to the tip ever-widening basilar membrane are adjusted like the strings of a grand piano in response to different pitches. High notes would make the strings at the base of the snail vibrate, while low notes would make the strings at the tip of the snail vibrate.
In Vienna's objection it is pointed out that for such a system two observable abilities of the inner ear are in contradiction. One is the high frequency difference sensitivity of the human ear of up to 1.5 Hz , which, according to the resonance theory, requires very low damping of the oscillating system in order to enable the differentiation of two locally adjacent deflection maxima of the basilar membrane. The other observation is the ear's relatively high trill frequency. This means that changes in the amplitude of a continuous tone can still be perceived up to around 18 times per second. On the other hand, this property of the hearing organ can only be understood if the attenuation of the system is high and thus the settling and decay times are short.
Wien pointed out that in an acoustic system, low attenuation (to explain the high sensitivity to differences) and high attenuation (to explain the rapid transient and decay processes) cannot exist at the same time. Since this statement ultimately also applies to the traveling wave theory of Georg von Békésy , Wien's objection in the figurative sense is still valid today, as long as the cochlear strengthening processes and sharpening mechanisms are not fully clarified.
Individual evidence
- ^ Max Wien: A concern about Helmholtz's resonance theory of hearing . In: Festschrift dedicated to Adolph Wüllner on the occasion of his 70th birthday on June 13, 1905 . Teubner, Leipzig 1905, p. 28-35 .
- ↑ Eberhard Zwicker and Richard Feldtkeller : The ear as a message receiver . Hirzel, Stuttgart 1967, p. 67 .