Sigmund Exner

Sigmund Exner (April 5, 1846 - February 5, 1926) was an Austrian physiologist who was a native of Vienna. He studied in Vienna under Ernst Wilhelm von Brücke (1819-1892), and in Heidelberg under Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1894). In 1870 he received his degree and subsequently became an assistant at the physiological institute at the University of Vienna. In 1891 he succeeded Ernst von Brücke as professor of physiology and director of the institute of hygiene. He had three renowned brothers; law professor Adolf Exner (1841-1894), physicist Karl Exner (1842-1914) and physicist Franz Exner (1849-1926).

Sigmund Exner is known for his work in comparative physiology, and perception psychology from a physiological viewpoint. He was interested on how the brain analyzes movement, as well as localization of behavioral functionality in the brain. He conceptualized the brain as having a parallel-processing nerve network, and he performed numerous studies regarding organization of the associative connections in the brain. In an 1894 work titled Entwurf zu einer physiologischen Erklärung der psychischen Erscheinungen, he postulated how the brain's neural network worked.

Exner also did extensive research on sense physiology involving studies of vision and smell. He explained how the compound eye functions, and in 1891 published a book titled Die Physiologie der facettierten Augen von Krebsen und Insekten, describing the compound eye physiology of insects and crustaceans. In 1899 Exner founded the Phonogrammarchiv in Vienna, which was an archive for recording acoustic phenomena for scientific purposes.
 * Associated eponyms
 * Call-Exner bodies: Small spaces filled with eosinophilic fluid and basement membrane material, usually associated with granulosa cell tumours. Named with Austrian physician Friedrich von Call (1844-1917).
 * Exner's area: A section of the brain just above Broca's area and anterior to the primary motor control area.
 * Exner's plexus: A plexus of superficial tangential fibers in the molecular layer of the cerebral cortex.