Endre Hőgyes (1847-1906), Forgotten Father of the Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex

• Published in: Otology & neurotology Vol. 40; no. 9; p. e938
• Main Authors: Tamás, László T, Mudry, Albert
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.10.2019
• ISSN: 1537-4505
• DOI: 10.1097/MAO.0000000000002335

Throughout the history of vestibular research, the discovery of the vestibulo-ocular reflex in 1881 by Endre Hőgyes (1847-1906) is rarely mentioned. The aim of this study is to review Hőgyes' vestibular research articles, all originally written in Hungarian and emphasize their epoch-making content. Hőgyes' vestibular publications, originally written in Hungarian, which describe various eye movements of the rabbit in response to vestibular stimulation by rotation about three axes. Hőgyes was the first to use a three-axis turntable on an experimental animal, in this case a rabbit. He found that depending on the plane of rotation, different types of binocular eye movements were produced. He then demonstrated by destructive and excitatory experiments, the anatomical pathways and the physiological function producing this phenomenon. Ultimately, he explained the exact connections between the inner ear labyrinth and certain muscle contractions during eye movements. He identified this pathway as the "associating center of the ocular movements," later defined as the vestibulo-ocular reflex. Hőgyes' discovery was only superficially noted during his lifetime and ignored after his death. Hőgyes was the first to demonstrate the vestibulo-ocular reflex. He was forgotten during the ensuing 140 years probably because his articles were appeared only in Hungarian and because a short time later, Róbert Bárány's award of the Nobel Prize overshadowed many of Bárány's predecessors and contemporaries, including Hőgyes and relegated them to the background.