In the 1960s, von
Bekesy hypothesized that the basilar membrane was tonotopically organized, and he gave a "traveling" wave or vibratory fluid motion that traversed the membrane from base to apex.
In relation to the backward propagation of the OAE, von
Bekesy discovered that the wave on the BM always traveled from the base to the apex, even the stimulus (the stapes vibration) was placed at the apex of the cochlea.
This research was partially supported by the
Bekesy Laboratory of Neurobiology Research Fund, the Department of Biology and College of Natural Sciences at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, and grants from the National Science Foundation: grants OCE-1459235 (PHL and A.
von
Bekesy, "Some biophysical experiments from fifty years ago.," Annual review of physiology, vol.
von
Bekesy's Theory of Paradoxical Wave Propagation along the Cochlear Partition by Means of Bone Conducted Auditory Brainstem Responses.
A type of
Bekesy instrument for measuring vibrometric tactile thresholds was refined by Stenfeldt et al.
George
Bekesy who also won a Nobel Prize was also a Hungarian.
This effect was observed firs by von
Bekesy already in the fifties of 20th century (
Bekesy, 1960).
(20,21) Kobrak and von
Bekesy found that in human cadavers' ears the stapes changed its mode of vibration at high intensities in such a way that less energy was transmitted to the cochlea.