Examples of historical figures who possessed this type of VND. Type of higher nervous activity and temperament

At birth, all living organisms have innate responses that aid in survival. Unconditioned reflexes are constant, that is, one and the same response can be observed to the same stimulus. But the environment is constantly changing, so the body needs to have mechanisms to adapt to new conditions, and innate reflexes alone are not enough for this. There is a connection of the higher parts of the brain, ensuring a normal existence and adaptability to constantly changing external conditions. This article is about what types of higher nervous activity are and how they differ from each other.

What it is?

Higher nervous activity is due to the work of the subcortex of the brain and the cerebral cortex. This concept is broad and includes several major components. These are mental activity and behavioral features. Each person has their own distinct characteristics in behavior, attitudes and beliefs, habits that are formed throughout life. As the basis of these features is a system of conditioned reflexes that appear when exposed to the outside world, and are also determined by the hereditary features of the nervous system. For a long period of time, Academician Pavlov worked on the processes of GNI (this means higher nervous activity), who developed an objective method for studying the activity of the nervous system departments. Also, the results of his research help to study the mechanisms that underlie this and experimentally prove the presence of conditioned reflexes.

Not everyone knows the types of higher nervous activity.

Properties of the nervous system

Basically, the transfer of features of the nervous system occurs through the mechanism of inheritance. The main properties of higher nervous activity include the presence of the following factors: the strength of nervous processes, balance, mobility. The first property is considered to be the most significant, since it characterizes the ability of the nervous system to withstand prolonged exposure to stimuli. For example, it is very noisy on an airplane during a flight, for an adult this is not a very annoying factor, but for a small child with undeveloped nervous processes this can have a serious, mentally inhibiting effect.

The types of higher nervous activity according to Pavlov are presented below.

Strong and weak nervous system

All people are divided into two categories: the first has a strong nervous system, and the second has a weak one. With a strong type of nervous system, it can have a balanced and unbalanced characteristic. Balanced people are characterized by a high rate of development of conditioned reflexes. The mobility of the nervous system directly depends on how quickly the process of inhibition is replaced by the process of excitation and vice versa. For people who are easily given the transition from one activity to another, the presence of a mobile nervous system is characteristic.

Types of higher nervous activity

The course of mental processes and behavioral reactions for each person is individual and has its own characteristics. The typification of the processes of nervous activity is determined by a combination of three constituent factors. Namely, strength, mobility and balance in the aggregate constitute the type of GNI. In science, there are several types of them:

strong, mobile and balanced;
strong and unbalanced;
strong, balanced, inert;
weak type.

What are the features of the types of higher nervous activity?

Signal systems

The course of nervous processes is unthinkable without the functions associated with the speech apparatus, therefore, in people, types are distinguished that are characteristic only for humans and are associated with the functioning of signaling systems (there are two of them - the first and second). With the thinking type, the body uses the services of the second signaling system much more often. People of this kind have a well-developed ability for abstract thinking. The artistic type is characterized by the dominance of the first signal system. With an average type, the work of both systems is in a balanced state. The physiological characteristics of the nervous system are such that hereditary factors affecting the course of mental processes in the body can change over time and under the influence of educational processes. This is primarily due to the plasticity of the nervous system.

How are types of higher nervous activity classified?

Division into types according to temperament

Even Hippocrates put forward a typology of people depending on their temperament. Features of the nervous system and allow us to say what type a person belongs to.

The strongest type of higher nervous activity in a sanguine person.

Sanguine

The whole system of reflexes is formed in them very quickly, speech is distinguished by loudness and clarity. Such a person pronounces words with expression, using gestures, but without excessive facial expressions. The process of extinction and restoration of conditioned reflexes is easy and effortless. The presence of such a temperament in a child allows us to talk about good abilities, moreover, he easily obeys the educational process.

What other types of human higher nervous activity exist?

Cholerics

In people of choleric temperament, the process of excitation prevails over the process of inhibition. The development of conditioned reflexes occurs with ease, but the process of their inhibition, on the contrary, is difficult. Cholerics are characterized by a high degree of mobility and the inability to concentrate on one thing. The behavior of a person with a similar temperament in most cases requires correction, especially when it comes to a child. In childhood, choleric people demonstrate aggressive and defiant behavior, which is caused by a high degree of excitability and slow inhibition of all nervous processes.

Phlegmatic

The phlegmatic type is characterized by the presence of a strong and balanced nervous system, but with a slow transition from one mental process to another. The formation of reflexes occurs, but at a much slower pace. Such a person speaks slowly, while he has a very measured pace of speech with a lack of facial expressions and gestures. A child with such a temperament is assiduous and disciplined. The execution of tasks is very slow, but it is always conscientious work. Teachers and parents should take into account the peculiarities of the child's temperament during classes and daily communication. The type of higher nervous activity and temperament are interrelated.

Melancholy

Melancholics have a weak nervous system, they do not tolerate strong stimuli, and in response to their influence, they demonstrate the maximum possible inhibition. People with a melancholic temperament are difficult to adapt to a new team, especially children. The formation of all reflexes occurs slowly, only after repeated exposure to the stimulus. Motor activity and speech is slow, measured. They do not fuss and do not make unnecessary movements. From the outside, such a child seems timid, unable to fend for himself.

Distinctive features

The physiological features of higher nervous activity are such that for a person with any temperament it is possible to develop and educate those qualities and personality traits that are necessary for life. Representatives of each temperament have their pros and cons. Here, the process of education is very important, in which the main task is to prevent the development of negative personality traits.

A person has a second signaling system, which takes behavioral reactions and mental processes to another level of development. Higher nervous activity is a conditioned reflex activity acquired throughout life. In comparison with animals, human nervous activity is richer and more diverse. This is primarily due to the formation of a large number of temporary connections and the emergence of complex relationships between them. In the human body, higher nervous activity also has social characteristics. Any irritation is refracted in a social perspective, in connection with this, all activities that are associated with adaptation to the environment will have complex forms.

The presence of such a tool as speech determines for a person the ability to think abstractly, which in turn leaves an imprint on various types of human activity. The typicality of the nervous system in humans is of great practical importance. For example, diseases of the central nervous system in most cases are associated with the course of nervous processes. Diseases of a neurotic nature are more susceptible to people with a weak type of nervous system. The development of some pathologies is influenced by the course of nervous processes. Weak type of higher nervous activity is the most vulnerable.

With a strong nervous system, the risk of complications is minimal, the disease itself is much easier to tolerate, and the patient recovers faster. As for the behavioral reactions of people, in most cases they are determined not by the peculiarity of temperament, but by the presence of certain living conditions and relationships with others. The course of mental processes can influence behavior, but they cannot be called a determining factor. Temperament can be only a prerequisite for the development of the most important personality traits.

Temperament

Question 1: The concept and structure of temperament

Temperament - a set of individually - typological personality traits that characterize the features of the dynamics of mental activity: intensity, speed, pace and rhythm of mental processes and states, behavior and activity.

Temperament is one of the most significant personality traits. Interest in this problem arose more than two and a half thousand years ago. It was caused by the obvious existence of individual differences, which are due to the peculiarities of the biological and physiological structure and development of the organism, as well as the peculiarities of social development, the uniqueness of social ties and contacts. The biologically determined structures of personality include, first of all, temperament. Temperament determines the presence of many mental differences between people, including the intensity and stability of emotions, emotional impressionability, the pace and vigor of actions, as well as a number of other dynamic characteristics.

B. M. Teplov gives the following definition of temperament: “Temperament is a set of mental characteristics characteristic of a given person associated with emotional excitability, i.e., the speed with which feelings arise, on the one hand, and their strength, on the other” (Teplov B. M ., 1985). Thus, temperament has two components - activity and emotionality.

temperament structure.

There are 3 components in the structure of temperament:

1) Activity - the intensity and speed of human interaction with the environment.

2) Emotionality - characterizes the features of the emergence, course and extinction of emotional states.

3) Motor (motor) - characterizes the features of the motor sphere, namely the rate of reaction, muscle tone, intensity, rhythm and total number of movements.

Question 2: Types of temperament, their psychological characteristics.

Temperament types:

1. Choleric - low sensitivity, high reactivity, high activity, predominance of reactivity, high pace, high emotional excitability, low anxiety, rigidity, extraversion.

2. Melancholic - high sensitivity, low reactivity, low activity, low pace, high emotional excitability, high anxiety, rigidity, introversion.

3. Phlegmatic - reduced sensitivity, low reactivity, high activity (in terms of volitional regulation), low pace, low emotional excitability, low anxiety, rigidity, introversion.

4. Sanguine - low sensitivity, high reactivity, high activity, predominance of activity, high pace, high emotional excitability, low anxiety, plasticity, extraversion.

A sanguine person is a decisive, energetic, quickly excitable, mobile, impressionable person, with a bright outward expression of emotions and their easy change.

Phlegmatic - calm, slow, with a weak manifestation of feelings, it is difficult to switch from one type of activity to another.

Choleric - quick-tempered, with a high level of activity, irritable, energetic, with strong, quickly emerging emotions, clearly reflected in speech, gestures, facial expressions.

Melancholic - has a low level of neuropsychic activity, dull, dreary, with high emotional vulnerability, suspicious, prone to gloomy thoughts and with a depressed mood, withdrawn, shy.

Question 3. The physiological basis of temperament: properties and types of higher nervous activity.

According to the teachings of IP Pavlov, the individual characteristics of behavior, the dynamics of the course of mental activity depend on individual differences in the activity of the nervous system. The basis of individual differences in nervous activity is the manifestation and correlation of the properties of the two main nervous processes - excitation and inhibition.

Three properties of excitation and inhibition processes were established:

1) the strength of the processes of excitation and inhibition,

2) the balance of the processes of excitation and inhibition,

3) mobility (replacement) of the processes of excitation and inhibition.

The strength of nervous processes is expressed in the ability of nerve cells to endure prolonged or short-term, but very concentrated excitation and inhibition. This determines the performance (endurance) of the nerve cell.

Weakness of nervous processes is characterized by the inability of nerve cells to withstand prolonged and concentrated excitation and inhibition. Under the action of very strong stimuli, nerve cells quickly pass into a state of protective inhibition. Thus, in a weak nervous system, nerve cells are characterized by low efficiency, their energy is quickly depleted. But on the other hand, a weak nervous system has great sensitivity: even to weak stimuli, it gives an appropriate reaction.

One of the main properties of higher nervous activity is the mobility of nervous processes. The mobility of the nervous system is characterized by the rapidity of the processes of excitation and inhibition, the rapidity of their onset and termination (when life conditions require it), the speed of the movement of nervous processes (irradiation and concentration), the rapidity of the appearance of the nervous process in response to irritation, the rapidity of the formation of new conditioned connections, the development of and dynamic stereotype changes.

Combinations of these properties of the nervous processes of excitation and inhibition formed the basis for determining the type of higher nervous activity. Depending on the combination of strength, mobility and balance of the processes of excitation and inhibition, four main types of higher nervous activity are distinguished.

Weak type. Representatives of the weak type of the nervous system cannot withstand strong, prolonged and concentrated stimuli. Weak are the processes of inhibition and excitation. Under the action of strong stimuli, the development of conditioned reflexes is delayed. Along with this, there is a high sensitivity (i.e., a low threshold) to the actions of stimuli.

Strong balanced type. Distinguished by a strong nervous system, it is characterized by an imbalance in the basic nervous processes - the predominance of excitation processes over inhibition processes.

Strong balanced mobile type. The processes of inhibition and excitation are strong and balanced, but their speed, mobility, and rapid change of nervous processes lead to a relative instability of the nervous connections.

Strong balanced inert type. Strong and balanced nervous processes are characterized by low mobility. Representatives of this type are outwardly always calm, even, difficult to excite.

The type of higher nervous activity refers to natural higher data; this is an innate property of the nervous system. On a given physiological basis, various systems of conditioned connections can be formed, i.e., in the process of life, these conditioned connections will form differently in different people: this will be the manifestation of the type of higher nervous activity. Temperament is a manifestation of the type of higher nervous activity in human activity and behavior.

Features of a person's mental activity, which determine his actions, behavior, habits, interests, knowledge, are formed in the process of a person's individual life, in the process of education. The type of higher nervous activity gives originality to human behavior, leaves a characteristic imprint on the whole appearance of a person - determines the mobility of his mental processes, their stability, but does not determine either the behavior, or actions of a person, or his beliefs, or moral principles.

1. Congenital forms of behavior (instincts and congenital reflexes), their significance in the adaptive activity of the organism.

Unconditioned reflexes- these are congenital reflexes that are carried out according to permanent reflex arcs available from birth. An example of an unconditioned reflex is the activity of a saliva gland during the act of eating, blinking when a mote enters the eye, defensive movements during painful stimuli, and many other reactions of this type. Unconditioned reflexes in humans and higher animals are carried out through the subcortical sections of the central nervous system (spinal, medulla oblongata, midbrain, diencephalon and basal ganglia). At the same time, the center of any unconditioned reflex (BR) is connected by nerve connections with certain areas of the cortex, i.e. there is a so-called. cortical representation of BR. Different BRs (food, defensive, sex, etc.) can have different complexity. BR, in particular, includes such complex innate forms of animal behavior as instincts.

BR undoubtedly play an important role in the adaptation of the organism to the environment. Thus, the presence of congenital reflex sucking movements in mammals provides them with the opportunity to feed on mother's milk in the early stages of ontogenesis. The presence of innate defense reactions (blinking, coughing, sneezing, etc.) protects the body from foreign bodies entering the respiratory tract. Even more obvious is the exceptional importance for the life of animals of various kinds of innate instinctive reactions (building nests, burrows, shelters, caring for offspring, etc.).

Keep in mind that BRs are not completely permanent, as some people think. Within certain limits, the nature of the innate, unconditioned reflex may vary depending on the functional state of the reflex apparatus. For example, in a spinal frog, irritation of the skin of the foot can cause an unconditionally reflex reaction of a different nature, depending on the initial state of the irritated paw: when the paw is extended, this irritation causes its flexion, and when it is bent, it is extended.

Unconditioned reflexes ensure the adaptation of the organism only under relatively constant conditions. Their variability is extremely limited. Therefore, to adapt to continuously and dramatically changing conditions, the existence of unconditioned reflexes alone is not enough. This is evidenced by the cases often encountered when instinctive behavior, which is so striking in its "reasonableness" under ordinary conditions, not only does not provide adaptation in a drastically changed situation, but even becomes completely meaningless.

For a more complete and subtle adaptation of the body to the constantly changing conditions of life, animals in the process of evolution developed more advanced forms of interaction with the environment in the form of the so-called. conditioned reflexes.

2. The meaning of the teachings of I.P. Pavlova about higher nervous activity for medicine, philosophy and psychology.

1 - strong unbalanced

4 - weak type.

1. Animals with strong, unbalanced

People of this type (cholerics)

2. Dogs strong, balanced, mobile

People of this type sanguine people

3. For dogs

People of this type (phlegmatic

4. In the behavior of dogs weak

melancholy

1. Art

2. thinking type

3. Medium type

3. Rules for the development of conditioned reflexes. The law of strength. Classification of conditioned reflexes.

Conditioned reflexes are not innate, they are formed in the process of individual life of animals and humans on the basis of unconditional ones. The conditioned reflex is formed due to the emergence of a new neural connection (temporary connection according to Pavlov) between the center of the unconditioned reflex and the center that perceives the accompanying conditioned irritation. In humans and higher animals, these temporary connections are formed in the cerebral cortex, and in animals that do not have a cortex, in the corresponding higher sections of the central nervous system.

Unconditioned reflexes can be combined with a wide variety of changes in the external or internal environment of the body, and therefore, on the basis of one unconditioned reflex, many conditioned reflexes can be formed. This significantly expands the possibilities of adapting the animal organism to the conditions of life, since the adaptive reaction can be caused not only by those factors that directly cause changes in the functions of the organism, and sometimes threaten its very life, but also by those that only signal the first. Due to this, an adaptive reaction occurs in advance.

Conditioned reflexes are characterized by extreme variability depending on the situation and on the state of the nervous system.

So, in complex conditions of interaction with the environment, the adaptive activity of the organism is carried out both in an unconditional reflex way and in a conditioned reflex way, most often in the form of complex systems of conditioned and unconditioned reflexes. Consequently, the higher nervous activity of man and animals is an inseparable unity of congenital and individually acquired forms of adaptation, it is the result of the joint activity of the cerebral cortex and subcortical formations. However, the leading role in this activity belongs to the cortex.

A conditioned reflex in animals or humans can be developed on the basis of any unconditioned reflex, subject to the following basic rules (conditions). Actually, this type of reflex was called "conditional", since it requires certain conditions for its formation.

1. It is necessary to coincide in time (combination) of two stimuli - unconditional and some indifferent (conditional).

2. It is necessary that the action of the conditioned stimulus somewhat precede the action of the unconditioned one.

3. The conditioned stimulus must be physiologically weaker than the unconditioned stimulus, and perhaps more indifferent, i.e. not causing a significant reaction.

4. A normal, active state of the higher departments of the central nervous system is necessary.

5. During the formation of a conditioned reflex (UR), the cerebral cortex should be free from other activities. In other words, during the development of SD, the animal must be protected from the action of extraneous stimuli.

6. A more or less long (depending on the evolutionary advancement of the animal) repetition of such combinations of a conditioned signal and an unconditioned stimulus is necessary.

If these rules are not observed, SDs are not formed at all, or they are formed with difficulty and quickly fade away.

Various methods have been developed to develop UR in various animals and humans (registration of salivation is the classic Pavlovian method, registration of motor-defensive reactions, food-procuring reflexes, labyrinth methods, etc.). The mechanism of formation of a conditioned reflex. A conditioned reflex is formed when a BR is combined with an indifferent stimulus.

The simultaneous excitation of two points of the central nervous system eventually leads to the emergence of a temporary connection between them, due to which an indifferent stimulus, previously never associated with a combined unconditioned reflex, acquires the ability to cause this reflex (becomes a conditioned stimulus). Thus, the physiological mechanism of SD formation is based on the process of closure of the temporal connection.

The process of SD formation is a complex act characterized by certain successive changes in the functional relationships between the cortical and subcortical nervous structures involved in this process.

At the very beginning of combinations of indifferent and unconditioned stimuli, an orienting reaction appears in the animal under the influence of the novelty factor. This innate, unconditioned reaction is expressed in the inhibition of general motor activity, in the rotation of the body, head and eyes in the direction of stimuli, in the alertness of the ears, olfactory movements, as well as in changes in breathing and cardiac activity. It plays a significant role in the formation of UR, increasing the activity of cortical cells due to tonic influences from the subcortical formations (in particular, the reticular formation). Maintaining the necessary level of excitability in the cortical points that perceive the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli creates favorable conditions for closing the connection between these points. A gradual increase in excitability in these zones is observed from the very beginning of the development of Ur. And when it reaches a certain level, reactions to the conditioned stimulus begin to appear.

In the formation of SD, the emotional state of the animal, caused by the action of stimuli, is of no small importance. The emotional tone of the sensation (pain, disgust, pleasure, etc.) already immediately determines the most general assessment of the acting factors - whether they are useful or harmful, and immediately activate the corresponding compensatory mechanisms, contributing to the urgent formation of an adaptive reaction.

The appearance of the first reactions to the conditioned stimulus marks only the initial stage of the formation of SD. At this time, it is still fragile (it does not appear for every application of the conditioned signal) and is of a generalized, generalized nature (the reaction is caused not only by a specific conditioned signal, but also by stimuli similar to it). Simplification and specialization of SD come only after additional combinations.

In the process of developing SD, its relationship with the orienting reaction changes. Sharply expressed at the beginning of the development of UR, as the UR becomes stronger, the orienting reaction weakens and disappears.

In relation to the conditioned stimulus to the reaction signaled by it, natural and artificial conditioned reflexes are distinguished.

natural called conditioned reflexes, which are formed on stimuli that are natural, necessarily accompanying signs, properties of the unconditioned stimulus on the basis of which they are produced (for example, the smell of meat when feeding it). Natural conditioned reflexes, in comparison with artificial ones, are more easily formed and more durable.

artificial called conditioned reflexes, generated in response to stimuli that are usually not directly related to the unconditioned stimulus that reinforces them (for example, a light stimulus reinforced by food).

Depending on the nature of the receptor structures on which the conditioned stimuli act, exteroceptive, interoceptive and proprioceptive conditioned reflexes are distinguished.

exteroceptive conditioned reflexes, formed to stimuli perceived by external external receptors of the body, make up the bulk of conditioned reflex reactions that provide adaptive (adaptive) behavior of animals and humans in a changing environment.

Interoceptive conditioned reflexes, produced by physical and chemical stimulation of interoreceptors, provide physiological processes of homeostatic regulation of the function of internal organs.

proprioceptive conditioned reflexes formed on stimulation of their own receptors in the striated muscles of the trunk and limbs, form the basis of all motor skills of animals and humans.

Depending on the structure of the applied conditioned stimulus, simple and complex (complex) conditioned reflexes are distinguished.

When simple conditioned reflex a simple stimulus (light, sound, etc.) is used as a conditioned stimulus. In the real conditions of the functioning of the organism, as a rule, not separate, single stimuli, but their temporal and spatial complexes act as conditioned signals.

In this case, either the entire environment surrounding the animal, or parts of it in the form of a complex of signals, acts as a conditioned stimulus.

One of the varieties of such a complex conditioned reflex is stereotyped conditioned reflex, formed on a certain temporal or spatial "pattern", a set of stimuli.

There are also conditioned reflexes developed to simultaneous and successive complexes of stimuli, to a sequential chain of conditioned stimuli separated by a certain time interval.

trace conditioned reflexes are formed in the case when the unconditioned reinforcing stimulus is presented only after the end of the action of the conditioned stimulus.

Finally, there are conditioned reflexes of the first, second, third, etc. order. If a conditioned stimulus (light) is reinforced by an unconditioned stimulus (food), conditioned reflex of the first order. Second-order conditioned reflex It is formed if a conditioned stimulus (for example, light) is reinforced not by an unconditioned, but by a conditioned stimulus, to which a conditioned reflex was previously formed. Conditioned reflexes of the second and more complex order are more difficult to form and are less durable.

Conditioned reflexes of the second and higher order include conditioned reflexes developed to a verbal signal (the word here represents a signal to which a conditioned reflex was previously formed when reinforced with an unconditioned stimulus).

4. Conditioned reflexes - a factor in the adaptation of the organism to changing conditions of existence. Methodology for the formation of a conditioned reflex. Differences between conditioned reflexes and unconditioned ones. Principles of the theory of I.P. Pavlova.

One of the main elementary acts of higher nervous activity is the conditioned reflex. The biological significance of conditioned reflexes lies in a sharp expansion of the number of signal stimuli that are significant for the body, which provides an incomparably higher level of adaptive (adaptive) behavior.

The conditioned reflex mechanism underlies the formation of any acquired skill, at the heart of the learning process. The structural and functional base of the conditioned reflex is the cortex and subcortical formations of the brain.

The essence of the conditioned reflex activity of the organism is reduced to the transformation of an indifferent stimulus into a signal, meaning one, due to the repeated reinforcement of the stimulus by an unconditioned stimulus. Thanks to the reinforcement of the conditioned stimulus by the unconditioned one, the previously indifferent stimulus is associated in the life of the organism with a biologically important event and thus signals the onset of this event. In this case, any innervated organ can act as an effector link of the reflex arc of the conditioned reflex. There is no organ in the human and animal organism, the work of which could not change under the influence of a conditioned reflex. Any function of the organism as a whole or its individual physiological systems can be modified (enhanced or suppressed) as a result of the formation of the corresponding conditioned reflex.

In the zone of cortical representation of the conditioned stimulus and cortical (or subcortical) representation of the unconditioned stimulus, two foci of excitation are formed. The focus of excitation, caused by an unconditioned stimulus of the external or internal environment of the body, as a stronger (dominant) one, attracts excitation from the focus of a weaker excitation caused by a conditioned stimulus. After several repeated presentations of the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli between these two zones, a stable path of movement of excitation is "blazed": from the focus caused by the conditioned stimulus to the focus caused by the unconditioned stimulus. As a result, the isolated presentation of only the conditioned stimulus now leads to the response evoked by the previously unconditioned stimulus.

Intercalary and associative neurons of the cerebral cortex act as the main cellular elements of the central mechanism for the formation of a conditioned reflex.

For the formation of a conditioned reflex, the following rules must be observed: 1) an indifferent stimulus (which should become a conditioned, signal) must have sufficient strength to excite certain receptors; 2) it is necessary that the indifferent stimulus be reinforced by an unconditioned stimulus, and the indifferent stimulus must either somewhat precede or be presented simultaneously with the unconditioned one; 3) it is necessary that the stimulus used as a conditioned one be weaker than the unconditioned one. To develop a conditioned reflex, it is also necessary to have a normal physiological state of the cortical and subcortical structures that form the central representation of the corresponding conditioned and unconditioned stimuli, the absence of strong extraneous stimuli, and the absence of significant pathological processes in the body.

If these conditions are met, a conditioned reflex can be developed for almost any stimulus.

I. P. Pavlov, the author of the theory of conditioned reflexes as the basis of higher nervous activity, initially assumed that the conditioned reflex is formed at the level of the cortex - subcortical formations (a temporary connection is closed between cortical neurons in the zone of representation of an indifferent conditioned stimulus and subcortical nerve cells that make up the central representation unconditioned stimulus). In later works, I. P. Pavlov explained the formation of a conditioned reflex connection by the formation of a connection at the level of the cortical zones of the representation of conditioned and unconditioned stimuli.

Subsequent neurophysiological studies led to the development, experimental and theoretical substantiation of several different hypotheses about the formation of a conditioned reflex. The data of modern neurophysiology indicate the possibility of different levels of closure, the formation of a conditioned reflex connection (cortex - cortex, cortex - subcortical formations, subcortical formations - subcortical formations) with a dominant role in this process of cortical structures. Obviously, the physiological mechanism for the formation of a conditioned reflex is a complex dynamic organization of the cortical and subcortical structures of the brain (L. G. Voronin, E. A. Asratyan, P. K. Anokhin, A. B. Kogan).

Despite certain individual differences, conditioned reflexes are characterized by the following general properties (features):

1. All conditioned reflexes are one of the forms of adaptive reactions of the body to changing environmental conditions.

2. Conditioned reflexes belong to the category of reflex reactions acquired in the course of individual life and are distinguished by individual specificity.

3. All types of conditioned reflex activity are signal warning character.

4. Conditioned reflex reactions are formed on the basis of unconditioned reflexes; without reinforcement, conditioned reflexes are weakened over time, suppressed.

5. Active forms of education. instrumental reflexes.

6. Stages of formation of conditioned reflexes (generalization, directed irradiation and concentration).

In the formation, strengthening of the conditioned reflex, two stages are distinguished: the initial (generalization of the conditioned excitation) and the final stage - the stage of the strengthened conditioned reflex (the concentration of the conditioned excitation).

The initial stage of generalized conditioned arousal in essence, it is a continuation of a more general universal reaction of the organism to any stimulus new to it, represented by an unconditioned orienting reflex. The orienting reflex is a generalized multicomponent complex reaction of the body to a sufficiently strong external stimulus, covering many of its physiological systems, including autonomic ones. The biological significance of the orienting reflex lies in the mobilization of the body's functional systems for better perception of the stimulus, i.e., the orienting reflex is adaptive (adaptive) in nature. Externally, the orienting reaction, called by IP Pavlov the “what is it?” reflex, manifests itself in the animal in alertness, listening, sniffing, turning the eyes and head towards the stimulus. Such a reaction is the result of a wide spread of the excitatory process from the focus of initial excitation caused by the active agent to the surrounding central nervous structures. The orienting reflex, unlike other unconditioned reflexes, is quickly inhibited and suppressed with repeated applications of the stimulus.

The initial stage in the formation of a conditioned reflex consists in the formation of a temporary connection not only to a given specific conditioned stimulus, but also to all stimuli related to it in nature. The neurophysiological mechanism is irradiation of excitation from the center of the projection of the conditioned stimulus onto the nerve cells of the surrounding projection zones, functionally close to the cells of the central representation of the conditioned stimulus, to which the conditioned reflex is formed. The farther from the initial initial focus, caused by the main stimulus, reinforced by the unconditioned stimulus, is the zone covered by the irradiation of excitation, the less likely is the activation of this zone. Therefore, at the initial stages of generalization of conditioned excitation, characterized by a generalized generalized reaction, a conditioned reflex response is observed to similar, similar in meaning stimuli as a result of the spread of excitation from the projection zone of the main conditioned stimulus.

As the conditioned reflex strengthens, the processes of irradiation of excitation are replaced processes of concentration limiting the focus of excitation only to the zone of representation of the main stimulus. As a result, refinement, specialization of the conditioned reflex occurs. At the final stage of the strengthened conditioned reflex, conditioned excitation concentration: the conditioned reflex reaction is observed only to a given stimulus; to side stimuli close in meaning, it stops. At the stage of concentration of conditioned excitation, the excitatory process is localized only in the zone of the central representation of the conditioned stimulus (the reaction is realized only to the main stimulus), accompanied by inhibition of the reaction to side stimuli. The external manifestation of this stage is the differentiation of the parameters of the acting conditioned stimulus—specialization of the conditioned reflex.

7. Inhibition in the cerebral cortex. Types of inhibition: unconditional (external) and conditional (internal).

The formation of a conditioned reflex is based on the processes of interaction of excitations in the cerebral cortex. However, for the successful completion of the process of closing a temporary connection, it is necessary not only to activate the neurons involved in this process, but also to suppress the activity of those cortical and subcortical formations that impede this process. Such inhibition is carried out due to the participation of the inhibition process.

In its outward manifestation, inhibition is the opposite of excitation. With it, a weakening or cessation of the activity of neurons is observed, or a possible excitation is prevented.

Cortical inhibition is usually subdivided into unconditional and conditional, acquired. Unconditional forms of inhibition include external, arising in the center as a result of its interaction with other active centers of the cortex or subcortex, and beyond, which occurs in cortical cells with excessively strong irritations. These types (forms) of inhibition are congenital and appear already in newborns.

8. Unconditional (external) inhibition. Burning and permanent brake.

External unconditional braking manifested in the weakening or termination of conditioned reflex reactions under the action of any extraneous stimuli. If a dog calls UR to a bell, and then acts on a strong extraneous irritant (pain, smell), then the salivation that has begun will stop. Unconditioned reflexes are also inhibited (the Turk reflex in a frog when pinching the second paw).

Cases of external inhibition of conditioned reflex activity are encountered at every step and in the conditions of the natural life of animals and humans. This includes a constantly observed decrease in activity and indecision in actions in a new, unusual environment, a decrease in the effect or even the complete impossibility of activity in the presence of extraneous stimuli (noise, pain, hunger, etc.).

External inhibition of conditioned reflex activity is associated with the appearance of a reaction to an extraneous stimulus. It comes the easier, and is the stronger, the stronger the extraneous stimulus and the less strong the conditioned reflex. External inhibition of the conditioned reflex occurs immediately upon the first application of an extraneous stimulus. Consequently, the ability of cortical cells to fall into a state of external inhibition is an innate property of the nervous system. This is one of the manifestations of the so-called. negative induction.

9. Conditioned (internal) inhibition, its significance (restriction of conditioned reflex activity, differentiation, confinement to time, protective). Types of conditioned inhibition, especially in children.

Conditioned (internal) inhibition develops in cortical cells under certain conditions under the influence of the same stimuli that previously evoked conditioned reflex reactions. In this case, braking does not occur immediately, but after a more or less long-term development. Internal inhibition, like a conditioned reflex, occurs after a series of combinations of a conditioned stimulus with the action of a certain inhibitory factor. Such a factor is the cancellation of unconditional reinforcement, a change in its nature, etc. Depending on the condition of occurrence, the following types of conditioned inhibition are distinguished: extinction, retardation, differentiation, and signal ("conditional brake").

Fading braking develops when the conditioned stimulus is not reinforced. It is not associated with fatigue of the cortical cells, since an equally long repetition of the conditioned reflex with reinforcement does not lead to a weakening of the conditioned reaction. Fading inhibition develops the easier and faster, the less strong the conditioned reflex and the weaker the unconditioned reflex, on the basis of which it was developed. Fading inhibition develops the faster, the shorter the interval between conditioned stimuli repeated without reinforcement. Extraneous stimuli cause a temporary weakening and even complete cessation of extinctive inhibition, i.e. temporary restoration of the extinguished reflex (disinhibition). The developed extinction inhibition also causes suppression of other conditioned reflexes, both weak and those whose centers are located close to the center of the primary extinction reflexes (this phenomenon is called secondary extinction).

The quenched conditioned reflex after some time is restored by itself, i.e. fading inhibition disappears. This proves that the extinction is associated with temporal inhibition, not with a break in the temporal connection. The extinguished conditioned reflex is restored the faster, the stronger it is and the weaker it was inhibited. Repeated extinction of the conditioned reflex occurs faster.

The development of extinction inhibition is of great biological importance, since it helps animals and humans to free themselves from previously acquired conditioned reflexes that have become useless in the new, changed conditions.

delayed braking develops in cortical cells when reinforcement is delayed in time from the onset of action of the conditioned stimulus. Externally, this inhibition is expressed in the absence of a conditioned reflex reaction at the beginning of the action of the conditioned stimulus and its appearance after a certain delay (delay), and the time of this delay corresponds to the duration of the isolated action of the conditioned stimulus. Delayed inhibition develops the faster, the smaller the lag of the reinforcement from the beginning of the action of the conditioned signal. With a continuous action of a conditioned stimulus, it develops faster than with an intermittent one.

Extraneous stimuli cause temporary disinhibition of delayed inhibition. Thanks to its development, the conditioned reflex becomes more accurate, timing to the right moment with a distant conditioned signal. This is its great biological significance.

Differential braking develops in cortical cells under the intermittent action of a constantly reinforced conditioned stimulus and unreinforced stimuli similar to it.

The newly formed SD usually has a generalized, generalized character, i.e. it is caused not only by a specific conditioned stimulus (for example, a tone of 50 Hz), but by numerous stimuli similar to it, addressed to the same analyzer (tones of 10-100 Hz). However, if in the future only sounds with a frequency of 50 Hz are reinforced, while others are left without reinforcement, then after a while the reaction to similar stimuli will disappear. In other words, out of the mass of similar stimuli, the nervous system will respond only to the reinforced one, i.e. biologically significant, and the reaction to other stimuli is inhibited. This inhibition ensures the specialization of the conditioned reflex, vital distinction, differentiation of stimuli according to their signal value.

Differentiation is developed the easier, the greater the difference between the conditioned stimuli. With the help of this inhibition, it is possible to study the ability of animals to distinguish sounds, figures, colors, etc. So, according to Gubergrits, a dog can distinguish a circle from an ellipse with a ratio of semiaxes of 8:9.

Extraneous stimuli cause disinhibition of differential inhibition. Starvation, pregnancy, neurotic conditions, fatigue, etc. can also lead to disinhibition and perversion of previously developed differentiations.

Signal braking ("conditional brake"). Inhibition of the "conditioned brake" type develops in the cortex when the conditioned stimulus is not reinforced in combination with some additional stimulus, and the conditioned stimulus is reinforced only when it is applied in isolation. Under these conditions, the conditioned stimulus, in combination with an extraneous stimulus, becomes, as a result of the development of differentiation, inhibitory, and the extraneous stimulus itself acquires the property of an inhibitory signal (conditioned brake), it becomes capable of inhibiting any other conditioned reflex if it is attached to the conditioned signal.

The conditioned brake easily develops when the conditioned and surplus stimulus act simultaneously. In a dog, it is not produced if this interval is more than 10 seconds. Extraneous stimuli cause disinhibition of signal inhibition. Its biological significance lies in the fact that it clarifies the conditioned reflex.

10. The idea of the limit of efficiency of the cells of the cerebral cortex. Outrageous braking.

Extreme braking develops in cortical cells under the action of a conditioned stimulus, when its intensity begins to exceed a certain limit. Transmarginal inhibition also develops under the simultaneous action of several individually weak stimuli, when the total effect of the stimuli begins to exceed the working capacity limit of the cortical cells. An increase in the frequency of the conditioned stimulus also leads to the development of inhibition. The development of translimiting inhibition depends not only on the strength and nature of the action of the conditioned stimulus, but also on the state of the cortical cells, on their performance. With a low level of efficiency of cortical cells, for example, in animals with a weak nervous system, in old and sick animals, a rapid development of translimiting inhibition is observed even with relatively weak stimuli. The same is observed in animals brought to considerable nervous exhaustion by prolonged action of stimuli of moderate strength.

Transmarginal inhibition has a protective value for the cells of the cortex. This is a parabiotic type of phenomenon. During its development, similar phases are noted: equalizing, when both strong and moderate in strength conditioned stimuli cause a response of the same intensity; paradoxical, when weak stimuli cause a stronger effect than strong stimuli; ultraparadoxical phase, when inhibitory conditioned stimuli cause an effect, but positive ones do not; and, finally, the inhibitory phase, when no stimuli cause a conditioned response.

11. Movement of nervous processes in the cerebral cortex: irradiation and concentration of nervous processes. Phenomena of mutual induction.

Movement and interaction of excitation and inhibition processes in the cerebral cortex. Higher nervous activity is determined by the complex relationship between the processes of excitation and inhibition that occur in cortical cells under the influence of various influences from the external and internal environment. This interaction is not limited only to the framework of the corresponding reflex arcs, but is played out far beyond them. The fact is that with any impact on the body, not only the corresponding cortical foci of excitation and inhibition arise, but also various changes in the most diverse areas of the cortex. These changes are caused, firstly, by the fact that nervous processes can spread (radiate) from their place of origin to the surrounding nerve cells, and the irradiation is replaced after a while by the reverse movement of the nervous processes and their concentration at the starting point (concentration). Secondly, changes are caused by the fact that nerve processes, when concentrated in a certain place of the cortex, can cause (induce) the emergence of an opposite nervous process in the surrounding neighboring points of the cortex (spatial induction), and after the cessation of the nervous process, induce the opposite nervous process in the same paragraph (temporary, sequential induction).

The irradiation of nervous processes depends on their strength. At low or high intensity, a tendency to irradiation is clearly expressed. With medium strength - to concentration. According to Kogan, the excitation process radiates through the cortex at a speed of 2-5 m/sec, while the inhibitory process is much slower (several millimeters per second).

Strengthening or occurrence of the process of excitation under the influence of the center of inhibition is called positive induction. The occurrence or intensification of the inhibitory process around (or after) excitation is called negativeby induction. Positive induction is manifested, for example, in an increase in the conditioned reflex reaction after the application of a differentiating stimulus or excitation before sleep. One of the most common manifestations of negative induction is the inhibition of UR under the action of extraneous stimuli. With weak or excessively strong stimuli, induction is absent.

It can be assumed that processes analogous to electrotonic changes underlie the phenomena of induction.

Irradiation, concentration and induction of nervous processes are closely related to each other, mutually limiting, balancing and strengthening each other, and thus determining the exact adaptation of the body's activity to environmental conditions.

12. An lysis and synthesis in the cerebral cortex. The concept of a dynamic stereotype, especially in childhood. The role of a dynamic stereotype in the work of a doctor.

Analytical and synthetic activity of the cerebral cortex. The ability to form SD, temporary connections shows that the cerebral cortex, firstly, can isolate its individual elements from the environment, distinguish them from each other, i.e. has the ability to analyze. Secondly, it has the ability to unite, merge elements into a single whole, i.e. ability to synthesize. In the process of conditioned reflex activity, a constant analysis and synthesis of stimuli of the external and internal environment of the body is carried out.

The ability to analyze and synthesize stimuli is inherent in the simplest form already in the peripheral parts of the analyzers - receptors. Due to their specialization, a qualitative separation is possible, i.e. environmental analysis. Along with this, the joint action of various stimuli, their complex perception creates the conditions for their fusion, synthesis into a single whole. Analysis and synthesis, due to the properties and activity of receptors, are called elementary.

The analysis and synthesis carried out by the cortex are called higher analysis and synthesis. The main difference is that the cortex analyzes not so much the quality and quantity of information as its signal value.

One of the brightest manifestations of the complex analytical and synthetic activity of the cerebral cortex is the formation of the so-called. dynamic stereotype. A dynamic stereotype is a fixed system of conditioned and unconditioned reflexes combined into a single functional complex, which is formed under the influence of stereotypically repeated changes or influences of the external or internal environment of the organism, and in which each previous act is a signal of the next.

The formation of a dynamic stereotype is of great importance in conditioned reflex activity. It facilitates the activity of cortical cells during the performance of a stereotypically repetitive system of reflexes, makes it more economical, and at the same time automatic and clear. In the natural life of animals and humans, the stereotypy of reflexes is developed very often. We can say that the basis of the individual form of behavior characteristic of each animal and person is a dynamic stereotype. Dynamic stereotypy underlies the development of various habits in a person, automatic actions in the labor process, a certain system of behavior in connection with the established daily routine, etc.

The dynamic stereotype (DS) is developed with difficulty, but, having formed, it acquires a certain inertia and, given the invariability of external conditions, becomes ever stronger. However, when the external stereotype of stimuli changes, the previously fixed system of reflexes also begins to change: the old one is destroyed and a new one is formed. Thanks to this ability, the stereotype was called dynamic. However, the alteration of a strong DS presents a great difficulty for the nervous system. It is known how difficult it is to change a habit. Alteration of a very strong stereotype can even cause a breakdown in higher nervous activity (neurosis).

Complex analytical and synthetic processes underlie such a form of integral brain activity as conditioned reflex switching when the same conditioned stimulus changes its signal value with a change in the situation. In other words, the animal reacts differently to the same stimulus: for example, in the morning the call is a signal to write, and in the evening it is pain. Conditioned reflex switching manifests itself everywhere in the natural life of a person in different reactions and different forms of behavior for the same reason in different settings (at home, at work, etc.) and has a great adaptive value.

13. The teachings of I.P. Pavlov about the types of higher nervous activity. Classification of types and principles underlying it (strength of nervous processes, balance and mobility).

The higher nervous activity of man and animals sometimes reveals rather pronounced individual differences. The individual features of GNI are manifested in different rates of formation and strengthening of conditioned reflexes, in different rates of development of internal inhibition, in different difficulties in remaking the signal value of conditioned stimuli, in different working capacity of cortical cells, etc. Each individual is characterized by a certain combination of the basic properties of cortical activity. She received the name of the VND type.

Features of the VND are determined by the nature of the interaction, the ratio of the main cortical processes - excitation and inhibition. Therefore, the classification of GNI types is based on differences in the basic properties of these nervous processes. These properties are:

1.Force nervous processes. Depending on the performance of cortical cells, nervous processes can be strong and weak.

2. Equilibrium nervous processes. Depending on the ratio of excitation and inhibition, they can be balanced or unbalanced.

3. Mobility nervous processes, i.e. the speed of their occurrence and termination, the ease of transition from one process to another. Depending on this, nervous processes can be mobile or inert.

Theoretically, 36 combinations of these three properties of nervous processes are conceivable, i.e. a wide variety of types of VND. I.P. Pavlov, however, singled out only 4, the most striking types of GNA in dogs:

1 - strong unbalanced(with a sharp predominance of excitation);

2 - strong unbalanced mobile;

3 - strong balanced inert;

4 - weak type.

Pavlov considered the selected types to be common for both humans and animals. He showed that the four established types coincide with the Hippocratic description of the four human temperaments - choleric, sanguine, phlegmatic and melancholic.

In the formation of the GNI type, along with genetic factors (genotype), the external environment and upbringing (phenotype) also take an active part. In the course of further individual development of a person, on the basis of the innate typological features of the nervous system, under the influence of the external environment, a certain set of GNI properties is formed, which manifests itself in a stable direction of behavior, i.e. what we call character. The type of GNI contributes to the formation of certain character traits.

1. Animals with strong, unbalanced type are, as a rule, bold and aggressive, extremely excitable, difficult to train, can not stand restrictions in their activities.

People of this type (cholerics) characterized by incontinence, easy excitability. These are energetic, enthusiastic people, bold in their judgments, prone to decisive actions, not knowing the measures in work, often reckless in their actions. Children of this type are often capable of learning, but quick-tempered and unbalanced.

2. Dogs strong, balanced, mobile type, in most cases they are sociable, mobile, quickly react to each new stimulus, but at the same time they easily restrain themselves. They quickly and easily adapt to changes in the environment.

People of this type sanguine people) are distinguished by restraint of character, great self-control, and at the same time, seething energy and exceptional performance. Sanguine people are lively, inquisitive people, interested in everything and quite versatile in their activities, in their own interests. On the contrary, one-sided, monotonous activity is not in their nature. They are persistent in overcoming difficulties and easily adapt to any changes in life, quickly restructuring their habits. Children of this type are distinguished by liveliness, mobility, curiosity, discipline.

3. For dogs strong, balanced, inert type characteristic feature is slowness, calmness. They are unsociable and do not show excessive aggression, reacting poorly to new stimuli. They are characterized by the stability of habits and the developed stereotype in behavior.

People of this type (phlegmatic) are distinguished by their slowness, exceptional poise, calmness and evenness in behavior. With their slowness, phlegmatic people are very energetic and persistent. They are distinguished by the constancy of habits (sometimes to the point of pedantry and stubbornness), the constancy of attachments. Children of this type are distinguished by good behavior, diligence. They are characterized by a certain slowness of movements, slow calm speech.

4. In the behavior of dogs weak type, cowardice, a tendency to passive-defensive reactions are noted as a characteristic feature.

A distinctive feature in the behavior of people of this type ( melancholy) is timidity, isolation, weak will. Melancholics often tend to exaggerate the difficulties they encounter in life. They are highly sensitive. Their feelings are often painted in gloomy tones. Children of the melancholic type outwardly look quiet, timid.

It should be noted that there are few representatives of such pure types, no more than 10% of the human population. The rest of the people have numerous transitional types, combining in their character the features of neighboring types.

The type of HNI largely determines the nature of the course of the disease, so it must be taken into account in the clinic. The type should be taken into account at school, when educating an athlete, a warrior, when determining professional suitability, etc. To determine the type of GNI in humans, special methods have been developed, including studies of conditioned reflex activity, processes of excitation and conditioned inhibition.

After Pavlov, his students carried out numerous studies on the types of GNA in humans. It turned out that the Pavlovian classification requires significant additions and changes. Thus, studies have shown that a person has numerous variations within each Pavlovian type due to the gradation of the three main properties of nervous processes. The weak type has especially many variations. Some new combinations of the basic properties of the nervous system have also been established, which do not fit the characteristics of any of the Pavlovian types. These include - a strong unbalanced type with a predominance of inhibition, an unbalanced type with a predominance of excitation, but unlike a strong type with a very weak inhibitory process, unbalanced in mobility (with labile excitation, but inert inhibition), etc. Therefore, work is now underway to clarify and supplement the classification of types of GNI.

In addition to the general types of GNA, a person also distinguishes private types, characterized by a different ratio between the first and second signaling systems. On this basis, three types of GNI are distinguished:

1. Art, in which the activity of the first signal system is especially pronounced;

2. thinking type, in which the second signaling system noticeably predominates.

3. Medium type, in which the 1st and 2nd signal systems are balanced.

The overwhelming majority of people belong to the middle type. This type is characterized by a harmonious combination of figurative-emotional and abstract-verbal thinking. Artistic type supplies artists, writers, musicians. Thinking - mathematicians, philosophers, scientists, etc.

14. Features of higher nervous activity of a person. The first and second signal systems (I.P. Pavlov).

General patterns of conditioned reflex activity, established in animals, are characteristic of human GNI. However, human GNI in comparison with animals is characterized by the highest degree of development of analytical and synthetic processes. This is due not only to the further development and improvement in the course of evolution of those mechanisms of cortical activity that are inherent in all animals, but also to the emergence of new mechanisms of this activity.

Such a specific feature of human GNI is the presence in him, unlike animals, of two systems of signal stimuli: one system, first, consists, as in animals, of direct impacts of external and internal environment factors organism; the other consists three words indicating the impact of these factors. I.P. Pavlov called her second signal system, since the word is " signal signal"Thanks to the second human signal system, analysis and synthesis of the surrounding world, its adequate reflection in the cortex, can be carried out not only by operating with direct sensations and impressions, but also by operating only with words. Opportunities are created for distraction from reality, for abstract thinking.

This greatly expands the possibilities of human adaptation to the environment. He can get a more or less correct idea of the phenomena and objects of the external world without direct contact with reality itself, but from the words of other people or from books. Abstract thinking makes it possible to develop appropriate adaptive reactions also outside of contact with those specific life conditions in which these adaptive reactions are expedient. In other words, a person determines in advance, develops a line of behavior in a new, never seen environment. So, going on a journey to new unfamiliar places, a person nonetheless prepares appropriately for unusual climatic conditions, for specific conditions of communication with people, etc.

It goes without saying that the perfection of a person's adaptive activity with the help of verbal signals will depend on how accurately and fully the surrounding reality is reflected in the cerebral cortex with the help of a word. Therefore, the only true way to verify the correctness of our ideas about reality is practice, i.e. direct interaction with the objective material world.

The second signaling system is socially conditioned. A person is not born with it, he is born only with the ability to form it in the process of communicating with his own kind. Mowgli children do not have a human second signaling system.

15. The concept of higher mental functions of a person (sensation, perception, thinking).

The basis of the mental world is consciousness, thinking, intellectual activity of a person, which are the highest form of adaptive adaptive behavior. Mental activity is a qualitatively new level of higher nervous activity inherent in man, higher than conditioned reflex behavior. In the world of higher animals, this level is presented only in its infancy.

In the development of the human mental world as an evolving form of reflection, the following 2 stages can be distinguished: sensations. Unlike sensations perception - the result of the reflection of the object as a whole and at the same time something still more or less dissected (this is the beginning of building one's "I" as a subject of consciousness). A more perfect form of concrete-sensory reflection of reality, formed in the process of individual development of the organism, is representation. Performance - a figurative reflection of an object or phenomenon, manifested in the spatio-temporal connection of its constituent features and properties. The neurophysiological basis of representations is the chain of associations, complex temporal connections; 2) stage of formation intellect and consciousness, which is realized on the basis of the emergence of holistic meaningful images, a holistic worldview with an understanding of one's "I" in this world, one's cognitive and creative creative activity. Human mental activity, which most fully realizes this highest level of the psyche, is determined not only by the quantity and quality of impressions, meaningful images and concepts, but also by a significantly higher level of needs that go beyond purely biological needs. A person desires not only “bread”, but also “spectacles” and accordingly builds his behavior. His actions and behavior become both the result of the impressions received and the thoughts generated by them, and the means of actively obtaining them. Correspondingly, the ratio of the volumes of cortical zones that provide sensory, gnostic, and logical functions changes in evolution in favor of the latter.

Human mental activity consists not only in the construction of more complex neural models of the surrounding world (the basis of the process of cognition), but also in the production of new information, various forms of creativity. Despite the fact that many manifestations of the human mental world turn out to be divorced from direct stimuli, events of the external world and seem to have no real objective reasons, there is no doubt that the initial, triggering factors are quite deterministic phenomena and objects reflected in brain structures based on universal neurophysiological mechanism - reflex activity. This idea, expressed by I. M. Sechenov in the form of the thesis “All acts of conscious and unconscious human activity by way of origin are reflexes,” remains generally recognized.

The subjectivity of mental nervous processes lies in the fact that they are a property of an individual organism, do not exist and cannot exist outside of a specific individual brain with its peripheral nerve endings and nerve centers, and are not an absolutely exact mirror copy of the real world around us.

The simplest, or basic, mental element in the work of the brain is feeling. It serves as that elementary act which, on the one hand, connects our psyche directly with external influences, and, on the other hand, is an element in more complex mental processes. Sensation is a conscious reception, that is, in the act of sensation there is a certain element of consciousness and self-consciousness.

Sensation arises as a result of a certain spatial-temporal distribution of the excitation pattern, however, for researchers, the transition from knowledge of the spatial-temporal pattern of excited and inhibited neurons to the sensation itself as the neurophysiological basis of the psyche still seems insurmountable. According to L. M. Chailakhyan, the transition from a neurophysiological process amenable to complete physical and chemical analysis to sensation is the main phenomenon of an elementary mental act, the phenomenon of consciousness.

In this regard, the concept of "mental" is presented as a conscious perception of reality, a unique mechanism for the development of the process of natural evolution, a mechanism for the transformation of neurophysiological mechanisms into the category of the psyche, the consciousness of the subject. The mental activity of a person is largely due to the ability to be distracted from reality and to make the transition from direct sensory perceptions to an imaginary reality (“virtual” reality). The human ability to imagine the possible consequences of their actions is the highest form of abstraction, which is inaccessible to the animal. A vivid example is the behavior of a monkey in the laboratory of I.P. Pavlov: each time the animal extinguished the fire burning on the raft with water, which it brought in a mug from a tank located on the shore, although the raft was in the lake and was surrounded on all sides by water.

The high level of abstraction in the phenomena of the human mental world determines the difficulties in solving the cardinal problem of psychophysiology - finding neurophysiological correlates of the mental, mechanisms for transforming a material neurophysiological process into a subjective image. The main difficulty in explaining the specific features of mental processes on the basis of the physiological mechanisms of the activity of the nervous system lies in the inaccessibility of mental processes to direct sensory observation and study. Mental processes are closely related to physiological ones, but cannot be reduced to them.

Thinking is the highest stage of human cognition, the process of reflection in the brain of the surrounding real world, based on two fundamentally different psychophysiological mechanisms: the formation and continuous replenishment of the stock of concepts, ideas and the derivation of new judgments and conclusions. Thinking allows you to gain knowledge about such objects, properties and relationships of the surrounding world that cannot be directly perceived using the first signal system. Forms and laws of thinking are the subject of consideration of logic, and psycho-physiological mechanisms, respectively, of psychology and physiology.

Human mental activity is inextricably linked with the second signal system. At the basis of thinking, two processes are distinguished: the transformation of thought into speech (written or oral) and the extraction of thought, content from its specific verbal form of communication. Thought is a form of the most complex generalized abstract reflection of reality, due to some motives, a specific process of integrating certain ideas, concepts in specific conditions of social development. Therefore, thought as an element of higher nervous activity is the result of the socio-historical development of the individual with the promotion of the linguistic form of information processing to the fore.

Creative thinking of a person is associated with the formation of new concepts. The word as a signal signal designates a dynamic complex of specific stimuli generalized in the concept expressed by the given word and having a wide context with other words, with other concepts. Throughout life, a person continuously replenishes the content of the concepts that are formed in him by expanding the contextual connections of the words and phrases he uses. Any learning process, as a rule, is associated with the expansion of the meaning of old and the formation of new concepts.

The verbal basis of mental activity largely determines the nature of development, the formation of thinking processes in a child, manifests itself in the formation and improvement of the nervous mechanism for providing a person’s conceptual apparatus based on the use of logical laws of inference, reasoning (inductive and deductive thinking). The first speech-motor temporal connections appear by the end of the first year of a child's life; at the age of 9-10 months, the word becomes one of the significant elements, components of a complex stimulus, but does not yet act as an independent stimulus. The combination of words into successive complexes, into separate semantic phrases, is observed in the second year of a child's life.

The depth of mental activity, which determines mental characteristics and forms the basis of human intellect, is largely due to the development of the generalizing function of the word. In the formation of the generalizing function of the word in a person, the following stages, or stages, of the integrative function of the brain are distinguished. At the first stage of integration, the word replaces the sensory perception of a certain object (phenomenon, event) denoted by it. At this stage, each word acts as a conventional sign of one particular object; the word does not express its generalizing function, which unites all unambiguous objects of this class. For example, the word "doll" for a child means specifically the doll that he has, but not the doll in the shop window, in the nursery, etc. This stage occurs at the end of the 1st - the beginning of the 2nd year of life.

At the second stage, the word replaces several sensual images that unite homogeneous objects. The word "doll" for the child becomes a generic designation for the various dolls that he sees. This understanding and use of the word occurs by the end of the 2nd year of life. At the third stage, the word replaces a number of sensual images of heterogeneous objects. The child develops an understanding of the general meaning of words: for example, the word “toy” for a child means a doll, a ball, a cube, etc. This level of word processing is achieved in the 3rd year of life. Finally, the fourth stage of the integrative function of the word, characterized by verbal generalizations of the second or third order, is formed at the 5th year of a child’s life (he understands that the word “thing” denotes integrating words of the previous level of generalization, such as “toy”, “food”, "book", "clothing", etc.).

The stages of development of the integrative generalizing function of the word as an integral element of mental operations are closely related to the stages, periods of development of cognitive abilities. The first initial period falls on the stage of development of sensorimotor coordination (a child aged 1.5-2 years). The next period of pre-operational thinking (age 2-7 years) is determined by the development of language: the child begins to actively use sensorimotor schemes of thinking. The third period is characterized by the development of coherent operations: the child develops the capacity for logical reasoning using specific concepts (age 7-11). By the beginning of this period, verbal thinking and activation of the child's inner speech begin to predominate in the child's behavior. Finally, the last, final stage in the development of cognitive abilities is the period of formation and implementation of logical operations based on the development of elements of abstract thinking, the logic of reasoning and inference (11-16 years). At the age of 15-17 years, the formation of neuro- and psychophysiological mechanisms of mental activity is basically completed. Further development of the mind, intellect is achieved through quantitative changes, all the main mechanisms that determine the essence of the human intellect have already been formed.

To determine the level of human intelligence as a general property of the mind, talents, the IQ indicator is widely used 1 - IQ, calculated on the basis of the results of psychological testing.

The search for unambiguous, sufficiently substantiated correlations between the level of a person's mental abilities, the depth of thought processes and the corresponding brain structures is still not very successful.

16. Fatnkciand speech, localization of their sensory and motor areas in the human cerebral cortex. The development of speech function in children.

The function of speech includes the ability not only to encode, but also to decode a given message using appropriate conventional signs, while maintaining its meaningful semantic meaning. In the absence of such information modeling isomorphism, it becomes impossible to use this form of communication in interpersonal communication. Thus, people cease to understand each other if they use different code elements (different languages that are inaccessible to all persons participating in communication). The same mutual misunderstanding also occurs if different semantic content is embedded in the same speech signals.

The system of symbols used by man reflects the most important perceptual and symbolic structures in the system of communication. At the same time, it should be noted that mastering the language significantly complements its ability to perceive the surrounding world on the basis of the first signal system, thereby constituting the “extraordinary increase” that I. P. Pavlov spoke about, noting a fundamentally important difference in the content of higher nervous activity of a person compared to animals.

Words as a form of thought transmission form the only really observable basis of speech activity. While the words that make up the structure of a particular language can be seen and heard, their meaning and content remain outside the means of direct sensory perception. The meaning of words is determined by the structure and amount of memory, the informational thesaurus of the individual. The semantic (semantic) structure of the language is contained in the information thesaurus of the subject in the form of a certain semantic code that transforms the corresponding physical parameters of the verbal signal into its semantic code equivalent. At the same time, oral speech serves as a means of direct direct communication, while written speech allows you to accumulate knowledge, information and acts as a means of communication mediated in time and space.

Neurophysiological studies of speech activity have shown that the perception of words, syllables and their combinations in the impulse activity of neuronal populations of the human brain forms specific patterns with a certain spatial and temporal characteristics. The use of different words and parts of words (syllables) in special experiments makes it possible to differentiate in electrical reactions (impulse flows) of central neurons both physical (acoustic) and semantic (semantic) components of brain codes of mental activity (N. P. Bekhtereva).

The presence of an individual's information thesaurus and its active influence on the processes of perception and processing of sensory information are a significant factor explaining the ambiguous interpretation of input information at different time points and in different functional states of a person. To express any semantic structure, there are many different forms of representations, such as sentences. The well-known phrase: "He met her in a clearing with flowers" allows three different semantic concepts (flowers in his hands, in her hands, flowers in a clearing). The same words, phrases can also mean different phenomena, objects (boron, weasel, braid, etc.).

The linguistic form of communication as the leading form of information exchange between people, the daily use of the language, where only a few words have an exact unambiguous meaning, largely contributes to the development of a person. intuitive ability to think and operate with inaccurate vague concepts (which are words and phrases - linguistic variables). The human brain, in the process of developing its second signaling system, the elements of which allow ambiguous relationships between a phenomenon, an object and its designation (a sign - a word), has acquired a remarkable property that allows a person to act reasonably and rationally enough in a probabilistic, "blurred" environment, significant information uncertainty. This property is based on the ability to manipulate, operate with inaccurate quantitative data, “fuzzy” logic, as opposed to formal logic and classical mathematics, which deal only with precise, unambiguously defined cause-and-effect relationships. Thus, the development of the higher parts of the brain leads not only to the emergence and development of a fundamentally new form of perception, transmission and processing of information in the form of a second signaling system, but the functioning of the latter, in turn, results in the emergence and development of a fundamentally new form of mental activity, the construction of inferences based on use of multi-valued (probabilistic, "fuzzy") logic, the human brain operates with "fuzzy", inaccurate terms, concepts, qualitative assessments easier than quantitative categories, numbers. Apparently, the constant practice of using language with its probabilistic relationship between a sign and its denotate (the phenomenon or object denoted by it) served as an excellent training for the human mind in manipulating fuzzy concepts. It is the “blurred” logic of human mental activity, based on the function of the second signal system, that provides him with the opportunity heuristic solution many complex problems that cannot be solved by conventional algorithmic methods.

The function of speech is carried out by certain structures of the cerebral cortex. The motor speech center that provides oral speech, known as Broca's center, is located at the base of the inferior frontal gyrus (Fig. 15.8). If this part of the brain is damaged, there are disorders of motor reactions that provide oral speech.

The acoustic center of speech (Wernicke's center) is located in the region of the posterior third of the superior temporal gyrus and in the adjacent part - the supramarginal gyrus (gyrus supramarginalis). Damage to these areas leads to the loss of the ability to understand the meaning of the words heard. The optical center of speech is located in the angular gyrus (gyrus angularis), the defeat of this part of the brain makes it impossible to recognize what is written.

The left hemisphere is responsible for the development of abstract logical thinking associated with the predominant processing of information at the level of the second signaling system. The right hemisphere ensures the perception and processing of information, mainly at the level of the first signaling system.

Despite the indicated certain left-hemispheric localization of speech centers in the structures of the cerebral cortex (and, as a result, the corresponding impairments to oral and written speech when they are damaged), it should be noted that dysfunctions of the second signaling system are usually observed when many other structures of the cortex and subcortical formations are affected. The functioning of the second signaling system is determined by the work of the whole brain.

Among the most common violations of the function of the second signaling system, there are agnosia - loss of word recognition properties (visual agnosia occurs with damage to the occipital zone, auditory agnosia - with damage to the temporal zones of the cerebral cortex), aphasia - impaired speech agraphia - violation of the letter, amnesia - forgetting words.

The word as the main element of the second signaling system turns into a signal of signals as a result of the process of learning and communication between the child and adults. The word as a signal of signals, with the help of which the generalization and abstraction that characterize human thinking are carried out, has become that exclusive feature of higher nervous activity that provides the necessary conditions for the progressive development of the human individual. The ability to pronounce and understand words develops in a child as a result of the association of certain sounds - words of oral speech. Using the language, the child changes the way of cognition: sensory (sensory and motor) experience is replaced by operating with symbols, signs. Learning no longer requires the obligatory own sensory experience, it can occur indirectly with the help of language; feelings and actions give way to words.

As a complex signal stimulus, the word begins to form in the second half of the first year of a child's life. As the child grows and develops, replenishes his life experience, the content of the words he uses expands and deepens. The main trend in the development of the word is that it generalizes a large number of primary signals and, abstracting from their specific diversity, makes the concept contained in it more and more abstract.

The highest forms of abstraction in the signaling systems of the brain are usually associated with an act of artistic, creative human activity in the world of art, where the product of creativity acts as one of the varieties of encoding and decoding information. Even Aristotle emphasized the ambiguous probabilistic nature of the information contained in a work of art. Like any other sign signal system, art has its own specific code (due to historical and national factors), a system of conventions. In terms of communication, the information function of art allows people to exchange thoughts and experiences, enables a person to join the historical and national experience of others, far away separated (both temporally and spatially) from him people. Significant or figurative thinking underlying creativity is carried out through associations, intuitive anticipations, through a “gap” in information (P. V. Simonov). This, apparently, is also connected with the fact that many authors of works of art, artists and writers usually start creating a work of art in the absence of preliminary clear plans, when it seems unclear to them the final form of the product of creativity, perceived by other people is far from unambiguous (especially if it is piece of abstract art). The source of the versatility and ambiguity of such a work of art is the understatement, the lack of information, especially for the reader, the viewer in terms of understanding and interpreting the work of art. Hemingway spoke about this when he compared a work of art with an iceberg: only a small part of it is visible on the surface (and can be perceived by everyone more or less unambiguously), a large and significant part is hidden under water, which provides the viewer and reader with a wide field for imagination.

17. The biological role of emotions, behavioral and vegetative components. Negative emotions (sthenic and asthenic).

Emotion is a specific state of the mental sphere, one of the forms of a holistic behavioral response that involves many physiological systems and is determined both by certain motives, the needs of the body, and the level of their possible satisfaction. The subjectivity of the category of emotion is manifested in a person's experience of his attitude to the surrounding reality. Emotions are reflex reactions of the body to external and internal stimuli, characterized by a pronounced subjective coloring and including almost all types of sensitivity.

Emotions have no biological and physiological value if the body has sufficient information to satisfy its desires, its basic needs. The breadth of needs, and hence the variety of situations in which an individual develops and manifests an emotional reaction, vary considerably. A person with limited needs is less likely to give emotional responses compared to people with high and varied needs, for example, needs related to his social status in society.

Emotional arousal as a result of a certain motivational activity is closely related to the satisfaction of three basic human needs: food, protective and sexual. Emotion as an active state of specialized brain structures determines changes in the behavior of the organism in the direction of either minimizing or maximizing this state. Motivational excitation associated with different emotional states (thirst, hunger, fear) mobilizes the body to quickly and optimally satisfy the need. A satisfied need is realized in a positive emotion, which acts as a reinforcing factor. Emotions arise in evolution in the form of subjective sensations that allow animals and humans to quickly assess both the needs of the organism itself and the effects of various factors of the external and internal environment on it. Satisfied need causes an emotional experience of a positive nature and determines the direction of behavioral activity. Positive emotions, being fixed in the memory, play an important role in the mechanisms of formation of purposeful activity of the body.

Emotions, realized by a special nervous apparatus, manifest themselves with a lack of accurate information and ways to achieve vital needs. Such an idea of the nature of an emotion makes it possible to form its informational nature in the following form (P. V. Simonov): E=P (N-S), where E - emotion (a certain quantitative characteristic of the emotional state of the body, usually expressed by important functional parameters of the physiological systems of the body, for example, heart rate, blood pressure, adrenaline level in the body, etc.); P- a vital need of the body (food, defensive, sexual reflexes), aimed at the survival of the individual and procreation, in humans, it is additionally determined by social motives; H - information necessary to achieve the goal, meet this need; With- information that the body owns and which can be used to organize targeted actions.

This concept was further developed in the works of G. I. Kositsky, who proposed to evaluate the magnitude of emotional stress according to the formula:

CH \u003d C (I n ∙ V n ∙ E n - I s ∙ V s ∙ E s),

where CH - state of tension, C- goal, Ying, Vn, En — necessary information, time and energy, I s, D s, E s - information, time and energy existing in the body.

The first stage of tension (CHI) is a state of attention, mobilization of activity, increase in working capacity. This stage has a training value, increasing the functionality of the body.

The second stage of tension (CHII) is characterized by a maximum increase in the energy resources of the body, an increase in blood pressure, an increase in the frequency of heartbeats and respiration. There is a sthenic negative emotional reaction, which has an external expression in the form of rage, anger.

The third stage (SNS) is an asthenic negative reaction, characterized by the depletion of the body's resources and finding its psychological expression in a state of horror, fear, melancholy.

The fourth stage (CHIV) is the stage of neurosis.

Emotions should be considered as an additional mechanism for active adaptation, adaptation of the organism to the environment with a lack of accurate information about the ways to achieve its goals. The adaptability of emotional reactions is confirmed by the fact that they involve only those organs and systems in increased activity that provide the best interaction between the organism and the environment. The same circumstance is indicated by a sharp activation during emotional reactions of the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system, which provides the adaptive-trophic functions of the body. In the emotional state, there is a significant increase in the intensity of oxidative and energy processes in the body.

An emotional response is the sum total of both the magnitude of a particular need and the ability to satisfy that need at the moment. Ignorance of the means and ways to achieve the goal seems to be a source of strong emotional reactions, while the feeling of anxiety grows, obsessive thoughts become irresistible. This is true for all emotions. Thus, the emotional sensation of fear is characteristic of a person if he does not have the means of possible protection from danger. A feeling of rage arises in a person when he wants to crush the enemy, this or that obstacle, but does not have the appropriate power (rage as a manifestation of impotence). A person experiences grief (an appropriate emotional reaction) when he does not have the opportunity to make up for the loss.

The sign of an emotional reaction can be determined by the formula of P. V. Simonov. Negative emotion occurs when H>C and, conversely, positive emotion is expected when H < C. So, a person experiences joy when he has an excess of information necessary to achieve a goal, when the goal is closer than we thought (the source of emotion is an unexpected pleasant message, unexpected joy).

In P. K. Anokhin’s theory of the functional system, the neurophysiological nature of emotions is associated with the concept of the functional organization of the adaptive actions of animals and humans based on the concept of an “acceptor of action”. The signal for the organization and functioning of the nervous apparatus of negative emotions is the fact that the "acceptor of action" - the afferent model of expected results - is inconsistent with the afferentation about the real results of the adaptive act.

Emotions have a significant impact on the subjective state of a person: in a state of emotional upsurge, the intellectual sphere of the body works more actively, inspiration visits a person, and creative activity increases. Emotions, especially positive ones, play an important role as powerful vital stimuli for maintaining high performance and human health. All this gives reason to believe that emotion is a state of the highest rise of the spiritual and physical forces of a person.

18. Memory. Short-term and long-term memory. The value of consolidation (stabilization) of traces of memory.

19. Types of memory. memory processes.

20. Neural structures of memory. Molecular theory of memory.

(merged for convenience)

In the formation and implementation of the higher functions of the brain, the general biological property of fixing, storing and reproducing information, united by the concept of memory, is very important. Memory as the basis of learning and thinking processes includes four closely related processes: memorization, storage, recognition, reproduction. Throughout a person's life, his memory becomes a receptacle for a huge amount of information: over 60 years of active creative activity, a person is able to perceive 10 13 - 10 bits of information, of which no more than 5-10% is actually used. This indicates a significant redundancy of memory and the importance of not only memory processes, but also the process of forgetting. Not everything that is perceived, experienced or done by a person is stored in memory, a significant part of the perceived information is forgotten over time. Forgetting manifests itself in the inability to recognize, recall something or in the form of erroneous recognition, recall. The reason for forgetting can be various factors associated both with the material itself, its perception, and with the negative influences of other stimuli acting immediately after memorization (the phenomenon of retroactive inhibition, memory suppression). The process of forgetting largely depends on the biological significance of the perceived information, the type and nature of memory. Forgetting in some cases can be positive, for example, memory for negative signals, unpleasant events. This is the justice of the wise oriental saying: “Fortunately, memory is a joy, oblivion, friend, burns.”

As a result of the learning process, physical, chemical and morphological changes occur in the nervous structures, which persist for some time and have a significant impact on the reflex reactions carried out by the body. The totality of such structural and functional changes in nerve formations, known as "engram" The (trace) of acting stimuli becomes an important factor determining the whole variety of adaptive adaptive behavior of an organism.

Types of memory are classified according to the form of manifestation (figurative, emotional, logical, or verbal-logical), according to a temporal characteristic, or duration (instant, short-term, long-term).

figurative memory manifested by the formation, storage and reproduction of a previously perceived image of a real signal, its nervous model. Under emotional memory understand the reproduction of some previously experienced emotional state upon repeated presentation of the signal that caused the initial occurrence of such an emotional state. Emotional memory is characterized by high speed and strength. This, obviously, is the main reason for the easier and more stable memorization of emotionally colored signals and stimuli by a person. On the contrary, gray, boring information is much more difficult to remember and quickly erased from memory. Logical (verbal-logical, semantic) memory - memory for verbal signals denoting both external objects and events, and the sensations and ideas caused by them.

Instantaneous (iconic) memory consists in the formation of an instant imprint, a trace of the current stimulus in the receptor structure. This imprint, or the corresponding physical and chemical engram of an external stimulus, is distinguished by high information content, completeness of signs, properties (hence the name "iconic memory", that is, a reflection clearly worked out in detail) of the active signal, but also by a high rate of extinction (it is not stored more than 100-150 ms, if not reinforced, not enhanced by repeated or continued stimulus).

The neurophysiological mechanism of iconic memory obviously consists in the processes of reception of the current stimulus and the immediate aftereffect (when the real stimulus is no longer active), expressed in trace potentials formed on the basis of the receptor electrical potential. The duration and severity of these trace potentials is determined both by the strength of the current stimulus and by the functional state, sensitivity and lability of the perceiving membranes of receptor structures. The erasure of the memory trace occurs in 100-150 ms.

The biological significance of iconic memory lies in providing the analyzer structures of the brain with the ability to isolate individual features and properties of a sensory signal, and to recognize an image. Iconic memory stores not only the information necessary for a clear idea of sensory signals coming within fractions of a second, but also contains an incomparably larger amount of information than can be used and is actually used at the subsequent stages of perception, fixation and reproduction of signals.

With sufficient strength of the current stimulus, iconic memory passes into the category of short-term (short-term) memory. short term memory - working memory, which ensures the implementation of current behavioral and mental operations. The basis of short-term memory is repeated multiple circulation of impulse discharges along circular closed circuits of nerve cells (Fig. 15.3) (Lorente de No, I. S. Beritov). Ring structures can also be formed within the same neuron by return signals generated by the terminal (or lateral, lateral) branches of the axon process on the dendrites of the same neuron (IS Beritov). As a result of repeated passage of impulses through these ring structures, persistent changes gradually form in the latter, laying the foundation for the subsequent formation of long-term memory. Not only excitatory, but also inhibitory neurons can participate in these ring structures. The duration of short-term memory is seconds, minutes after the direct action of the corresponding message, phenomenon, object. The reverberation hypothesis of the nature of short-term memory allows for the existence of closed circles of circulation of impulse excitation both inside the cerebral cortex and between the cortex and subcortical formations (in particular, thalamocortical nerve circles) containing both sensory and gnostic (trainable, recognizing) nerve cells. Intracortical and thalamocortical reverberation circles as the structural basis of the neurophysiological mechanism of short-term memory are formed by cortical pyramidal cells of layers V-VI of predominantly frontal and parietal areas of the cerebral cortex.

The participation of the structures of the hippocampus and the limbic system of the brain in short-term memory is associated with the implementation by these nerve formations of the function of distinguishing the novelty of signals and reading incoming afferent information at the input of the waking brain (O. S. Vinogradova). The realization of the phenomenon of short-term memory practically does not require and is not actually associated with significant chemical and structural changes in neurons and synapses, since the corresponding changes in the synthesis of messenger (messenger) RNA require more time.

Despite the differences in hypotheses and theories about the nature of short-term memory, their initial prerequisite is the occurrence of short-term reversible changes in the physicochemical properties of the membrane, as well as the dynamics of neurotransmitters in synapses. Ionic currents across the membrane, combined with short-term metabolic shifts during synapse activation, can lead to a change in the efficiency of synaptic transmission lasting several seconds.

The transformation of short-term memory into long-term memory (memory consolidation) is generally due to the onset of persistent changes in synaptic conductance as a result of re-excitation of nerve cells (learning populations, ensembles of neurons according to Hebb). The transition of short-term memory to long-term memory (memory consolidation) is due to chemical and structural changes in the corresponding nerve formations. According to modern neurophysiology and neurochemistry, long-term (long-term) memory is based on complex chemical processes of the synthesis of protein molecules in brain cells. Memory consolidation is based on many factors that facilitate the transmission of impulses through synaptic structures (enhanced functioning of certain synapses, increasing their conductivity for adequate impulse flows). One of these factors is the well-known phenomenon of post-tetanic potentiation (see Chapter 4), supported by reverberant impulse flows: irritation of afferent nerve structures leads to a fairly long (tens of minutes) increase in the conductivity of spinal cord motor neurons. This means that the physicochemical changes in postsynaptic membranes that occur during a persistent shift in the membrane potential probably serve as the basis for the formation of memory traces, which are reflected in changes in the protein substrate of the nerve cell.

Changes observed in the mediator mechanisms that ensure the process of chemical transmission of excitation from one nerve cell to another have a certain significance in the mechanisms of long-term memory. The basis of plastic chemical changes in synaptic structures is the interaction of mediators, such as acetylcholine with receptor proteins of the postsynaptic membrane and ions (Na + , K + , Ca 2+). The dynamics of transmembrane currents of these ions makes the membrane more sensitive to the action of mediators. It has been established that the learning process is accompanied by an increase in the activity of the cholinesterase enzyme, which destroys acetylcholine, and substances that inhibit the action of cholinesterase cause significant memory impairment.

One of the widespread chemical theories of memory is Hiden's hypothesis about the protein nature of memory. According to the author, the information underlying long-term memory is encoded and recorded in the structure of the polynucleotide chain of the molecule. The different structure of impulse potentials, in which certain sensory information is encoded in the afferent nerve conductors, leads to different rearrangements of the RNA molecule, to specific movements of nucleotides in their chain for each signal. Thus, each signal is fixed in the form of a specific imprint in the structure of the RNA molecule. Based on Hiden's hypothesis, it can be assumed that glial cells involved in the trophic provision of neuron functions are included in the metabolic cycle of encoding incoming signals by changing the nucleotide composition of synthesizing RNA. The entire set of possible permutations and combinations of nucleotide elements makes it possible to fix a huge amount of information in the structure of an RNA molecule: the theoretically calculated amount of this information is 10-1020 bits, which significantly overlaps the real amount of human memory. The process of fixing information in a nerve cell is reflected in protein synthesis, into the molecule of which the corresponding trace imprint of changes in the RNA molecule is introduced. In this case, the protein molecule becomes sensitive to a specific pattern of the impulse flow, thereby, as it were, it recognizes the afferent signal that is encoded in this impulse pattern. As a result, the mediator is released in the corresponding synapse, leading to the transfer of information from one nerve cell to another in the system of neurons responsible for fixing, storing and reproducing information.

A possible substrate for long-term memory is some peptides of a hormonal nature, simple protein substances, and a specific protein S-100. Such peptides that stimulate, for example, the conditioned reflex mechanism of learning, include some hormones (ACTH, somatotropic hormone, vasopressin, etc.).

An interesting hypothesis about the immunochemical mechanism of memory formation was proposed by I. P. Ashmarin. The hypothesis is based on the recognition of the important role of an active immune response in the consolidation and formation of long-term memory. The essence of this idea is as follows: as a result of metabolic processes on synaptic membranes during the reverberation of excitation at the stage of formation of short-term memory, substances are formed that play the role of an antigen for antibodies produced in glial cells. The binding of an antibody to an antigen occurs with the participation of stimulators of the formation of mediators or an inhibitor of enzymes that destroy and break down these stimulating substances (Fig. 15.4).

A significant place in the provision of neurophysiological mechanisms of long-term memory is given to glial cells (Galambus, A. I. Roitbak), the number of which in the central nervous formations is an order of magnitude greater than the number of nerve cells. The following mechanism of participation of glial cells in the implementation of the conditioned reflex mechanism of learning is proposed. At the stage of formation and strengthening of the conditioned reflex in the glial cells adjacent to the nerve cell, the synthesis of myelin is enhanced, which envelops the terminal thin branches of the axon process and thereby facilitates the conduction of nerve impulses along them, resulting in an increase in the efficiency of synaptic transmission of excitation. In turn, stimulation of myelin formation occurs as a result of depolarization of the oligodendrocyte (glial cell) membrane under the influence of an incoming nerve impulse. Thus, long-term memory may be based on associated changes in the neuro-glial complex of central nervous formations.

The possibility of selective exclusion of short-term memory without impairment of long-term memory and selective effect on long-term memory in the absence of any impairment of short-term memory is usually considered as evidence of the different nature of the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms. Indirect evidence of the presence of certain differences in the mechanisms of short-term and long-term memory are the features of memory disorders in case of damage to brain structures. So, with some focal lesions of the brain (lesions of the temporal zones of the cortex, structures of the hippocampus), when it is concussed, memory disorders occur, expressed in the loss of the ability to remember current events or events of the recent past (which occurred shortly before the impact that caused this pathology) while maintaining memory for the previous ones, events that happened a long time ago. However, a number of other influences have the same type of influence on both short-term and long-term memory. Apparently, despite some noticeable differences in the physiological and biochemical mechanisms responsible for the formation and manifestation of short-term and long-term memory, their nature has much more in common than different; they can be considered as successive stages of a single mechanism of fixation and strengthening of trace processes occurring in nervous structures under the influence of repetitive or constantly acting signals.

21. The idea of functional systems (P.K. Anokhin). System approach in cognition.

The concept of self-regulation of physiological functions was most fully reflected in the theory of functional systems developed by Academician P. K. Anokhin. According to this theory, the balancing of the organism with the environment is carried out by self-organizing functional systems.

Functional systems (FS) are a dynamically developing self-regulating complex of central and peripheral formations, which ensures the achievement of useful adaptive results.

The result of the action of any FS is a vital adaptive indicator necessary for the normal functioning of the body in the biological and social terms. From this follows the system-forming role of the result of the action. It is in order to achieve a certain adaptive result that FS are formed, the complexity of the organization of which is determined by the nature of this result.

The variety of adaptive results useful for the body can be reduced to several groups: 1) metabolic results, which are the result of metabolic processes at the molecular (biochemical) level, creating the substrates or end products necessary for life; 2) homeopathic results, which are the leading indicators of body fluids: blood, lymph, interstitial fluid (osmotic pressure, pH, nutrient content, oxygen, hormones, etc.), providing various aspects of normal metabolism; 3) the results of the behavioral activities of animals and humans that satisfy the basic metabolic, biological needs: food, drink, sexual, etc.; 4) the results of human social activity that satisfy social (creation of a social product of labor, environmental protection, protection of the fatherland, improvement of life) and spiritual (acquisition of knowledge, creativity) needs.

Each FS includes various organs and tissues. The combination of the latter in the FS is carried out by the result, for the sake of which the FS is created. This principle of FS organization is called the principle of selective mobilization of the activity of organs and tissues into an integral system. For example, to ensure the optimal blood gas composition for metabolism, selective mobilization of the activities of the lungs, heart, blood vessels, kidneys, hematopoietic organs, and blood in the respiration FS takes place.

The inclusion of individual organs and tissues in the FS is carried out according to the principle of interaction, which provides for the active participation of each element of the system in achieving a useful adaptive result.

In the above example, each element actively contributes to maintaining the gas composition of the blood: the lungs provide gas exchange, the blood binds and transports O 2 and CO 2, the heart and blood vessels provide the necessary blood flow rate and size.

To achieve results at different levels, multi-level FS are also formed. FS at any level of organization has a fundamentally the same type of structure, which includes 5 main components: 1) a useful adaptive result; 2) result acceptors (control devices); 3) reverse afferentation, which supplies information from receptors to the central link of the FS; 4) central architectonics - selective unification of nervous elements of various levels into special nodal mechanisms (control apparatuses); 5) executive components (reaction apparatus) - somatic, vegetative, endocrine, behavioral.

22. The central mechanisms of functional systems that form behavioral acts: motivation, the stage of afferent synthesis (situational afferentation, triggering afferentation, memory), the decision-making stage. Formation of an acceptor of the results of action, reverse afferentation.

The state of the internal environment is constantly monitored by the corresponding receptors. The source of changes in the parameters of the internal environment of the body is the continuously ongoing process of metabolism (metabolism) in the cells, accompanied by the consumption of initial and the formation of end products. Any deviation of the parameters from those optimal for metabolism, as well as a change in the results of a different level, is perceived by receptors. From the latter, information is transmitted by a feedback link to the corresponding nerve centers. On the basis of incoming information, there is a selective involvement of structures of various levels of the central nervous system into this FS for the mobilization of executive organs and systems (reaction apparatuses). The activity of the latter leads to the restoration of the result necessary for metabolism or social adaptation.

The organization of various PS in the body is fundamentally the same. This is principle of isomorphism FS.

At the same time, there are differences in their organization, which are due to the nature of the result. FS, which determine various indicators of the internal environment of the body, are genetically determined, often include only internal (vegetative, humoral) mechanisms of self-regulation. These include PS, which determine the optimal level of blood mass, formed elements, environmental reaction (pH), and blood pressure for tissue metabolism. Other FS of the homeostatic level include the external link of self-regulation, which provides for the interaction of the organism with the external environment. In the work of some FS, the external link plays a relatively passive role as a source of necessary substrates (for example, oxygen for respiratory PS), in others, the external link of self-regulation is active and includes purposeful human behavior in the environment, aimed at its transformation. These include PS, which provides an optimal level of nutrients, osmotic pressure, and body temperature for the body.

FS of the behavioral and social levels are extremely dynamic in their organization and are formed as the corresponding needs arise. In such FS, the external link of self-regulation plays a leading role. At the same time, human behavior is determined and corrected genetically, individually acquired experience, as well as numerous disturbing influences. An example of such FS is the production activity of a person to achieve a socially significant result for society and the individual: the work of scientists, artists, writers.

FS control devices. According to the principle of isomorphism, the central architectonics (control apparatus) of the FS, which consists of several stages, is also built (see Fig. 3.1). The starting point is the stage of afferent synthesis. It is based on dominating motivation, arising on the basis of the most significant needs of the body at the moment. Excitation created by dominant motivation mobilizes genetic and individually acquired experience (memory) to meet this need. Information on the state of the habitat supplied situational afferentation, allows in a particular situation to assess the possibility and, if necessary, adjust the past experience of satisfying the need. The interaction of excitations created by the dominant motivation, memory mechanisms and situational afferentation creates a state of readiness (pre-start integration) necessary to obtain an adaptive result. Starting afferentation transfers the system from the state of readiness to the state of activity. At the stage of afferent synthesis, the dominant motivation determines what to do, memory - how to do it, situational and triggering afferentation - when to do it in order to achieve the desired result.

The stage of afferent synthesis ends with a decision. At this stage, out of many possible ways, the only way is chosen to satisfy the leading need of the organism. There is a limitation of the degrees of freedom of the FS activity.

Following the adoption of a decision, an acceptor of the result of an action and an action program are formed. AT action result acceptor all the main features of the future result of the action are programmed. This programming takes place on the basis of dominant motivation, which extracts from the memory mechanisms the necessary information about the characteristics of the result and ways to achieve it. Thus, the acceptor of the results of an action is an apparatus for predicting, predicting, modeling the results of the activity of the FS, where the parameters of the result are modeled and compared with the afferent model. Information about the parameters of the result is supplied with the help of back afferentation.

The program of action (efferent synthesis) is a coordinated interaction of somatic, vegetative and humoral components in order to successfully achieve a useful adaptive result. The program of action forms the necessary adaptive act in the form of a certain complex of excitations in the central nervous system prior to its implementation in the form of specific actions. This program determines the inclusion of efferent structures necessary to obtain a useful result.

A necessary link in the work of the FS - reverse afferentation. With its help, individual stages and the final result of the systems activity are evaluated. Information from the receptors comes through the afferent nerves and humoral communication channels to the structures that make up the acceptor of the result of the action. The coincidence of the parameters of the real result and the properties of its model prepared in the acceptor means the satisfaction of the initial need of the organism. The activity of the FS ends here. Its components can be used in other FS. If the parameters of the result and the properties of the model prepared on the basis of afferent synthesis do not match in the acceptor of the results of the action, an orienting-exploratory reaction arises. It leads to the restructuring of the afferent synthesis, the adoption of a new decision, the specification of the characteristics of the model in the acceptor of the results of the action and the program to achieve them. The activities of the FS are carried out in a new direction, necessary to meet the leading need.

Principles of FS interaction. Several functional systems work simultaneously in the body, which provides for their interaction, which is based on certain principles.

The principle of systemogenesis involves selective maturation and involution of functional systems. Thus, the PSs of blood circulation, respiration, nutrition, and their individual components mature and develop earlier than other PSs in the process of ontogeny.

The principle of multiparametric (multi-connected) interactions determines the generalized activity of various FS, aimed at achieving a multicomponent result. For example, the parameters of homeostasis (osmotic pressure, CBS, etc.) are provided by independent FS, which are combined into a single generalized FS of homeostasis. It determines the unity of the internal environment of the organism, as well as its changes due to metabolic processes and the vigorous activity of the organism in the external environment. At the same time, the deviation of one indicator of the internal environment causes a redistribution in certain ratios of other parameters of the result of the generalized PS of homeostasis.

Hierarchy principle suggests that the FS of an organism are arranged in a certain row in accordance with biological or social significance. For example, in the biological plan, the dominant position is occupied by the FS, which ensures the preservation of the integrity of tissues, then - by the FS of nutrition, reproduction, etc. The activity of the organism in each time period is determined by the dominant FS in terms of survival or adaptation of the organism to the conditions of existence. After satisfaction of one leading need, the dominant position is occupied by another most important need in terms of social or biological significance.

The principle of consistent dynamic interaction provides for a clear sequence of changes in the activities of several interconnected FS. The factor determining the beginning of the activity of each subsequent FS is the result of the activity of the previous system. Another principle of organization of FS interaction is the principle of systemic quantization of life activity. For example, in the process of breathing, the following systemic "quanta" with their final results can be distinguished: inhalation and the flow of a certain amount of air into the alveoli; diffusion O 2 from the alveoli to the pulmonary capillaries and the binding of O 2 to hemoglobin; O 2 transport to tissues; diffusion of O 2 from blood to tissues and CO 2 in the opposite direction; transport of CO 2 to the lungs; diffusion of CO 2 from the blood into the alveolar air; exhalation. The principle of system quantization extends to human behavior.

Thus, the management of the organism's vital activity by organizing the FS of the homeostatic and behavioral levels has a number of properties that allow the organism to be adequately adapted to the changing external environment. FS makes it possible to respond to disturbing influences of the external environment and, on the basis of inverse affectation, to reorganize the activity of the organism when the parameters of the internal environment deviate. In addition, in the central mechanisms of the FS, an apparatus for predicting future results is formed - an acceptor of the result of an action, on the basis of which the organization and initiation of adaptive acts ahead of actual events takes place, which significantly expands the adaptive capabilities of the organism. Comparison of the parameters of the achieved result with the afferent model in the acceptor of the results of the action serves as the basis for correcting the body's activity in terms of obtaining exactly those results that best provide the adaptation process.

23. The physiological nature of sleep. sleep theories.

Sleep is a vital periodically occurring special functional state characterized by specific electrophysiological, somatic and vegetative manifestations.

It is known that the periodic alternation of natural sleep and wakefulness refers to the so-called circadian rhythms and is largely determined by the daily change in illumination. A person spends about a third of his life in a dream, which led to a long-standing and close interest among researchers in this state.

Theories of sleep mechanisms. According to concepts 3. Freud, sleep is a state in which a person interrupts conscious interaction with the outside world in order to deepen into the inner world, while external stimuli are blocked. According to 3. Freud, the biological purpose of sleep is rest.

humoral concept The main reason for the onset of sleep is explained by the accumulation of metabolic products during the period of wakefulness. According to current data, specific peptides, such as the delta sleep peptide, play an important role in sleep induction.

Information deficit theory the main reason for the onset of sleep is the limitation of sensory input. Indeed, in observations on volunteers in the process of preparing for a space flight, it was revealed that sensory deprivation (a sharp restriction or cessation of the influx of sensory information) leads to the onset of sleep.

According to the definition of I.P. Pavlov and many of his followers, natural sleep is a diffuse inhibition of cortical and subcortical structures, cessation of contact with the outside world, extinction of afferent and efferent activity, shutdown of conditioned and unconditioned reflexes for the period of sleep, as well as the development of general and private relaxation. Modern physiological studies have not confirmed the presence of diffuse inhibition. Thus, microelectrode studies revealed a high degree of neuronal activity during sleep in almost all parts of the cerebral cortex. From the analysis of the pattern of these discharges, it was concluded that the state of natural sleep represents a different organization of brain activity, different from brain activity in the waking state.

24. Sleep phases: "slow" and "fast" (paradoxical) according to EEG. Brain structures involved in the regulation of sleep and wakefulness.

The most interesting results were obtained when conducting polygraphic studies during a night's sleep. During such studies throughout the night, the electrical activity of the brain is continuously recorded on a multichannel recorder - an electroencephalogram (EEG) at various points (most often in the frontal, occipital and parietal lobes) synchronously with the registration of fast (RDG) and slow (MDG) eye movements and electromyograms of skeletal muscles, as well as a number of vegetative indicators - the activity of the heart, digestive tract, respiration, temperature, etc.

EEG during sleep. The discovery by E. Azerinsky and N. Kleitman of the phenomenon of “rapid” or “paradoxical” sleep, during which rapid eyeball movements (REM) were detected with closed eyelids and general complete muscle relaxation, served as the basis for modern studies of sleep physiology. It turned out that sleep is a combination of two alternating phases: "slow" or "orthodox" sleep and "rapid" or "paradoxical" sleep. The name of these sleep phases is due to the characteristic features of the EEG: during "slow" sleep, predominantly slow waves are recorded, and during "REM" sleep, a fast beta rhythm, characteristic of human wakefulness, which gave reason to call this phase of sleep "paradoxical" sleep. Based on the electroencephalographic picture, the phase of "slow" sleep, in turn, is divided into several stages. There are the following main stages of sleep:

stage I - drowsiness, the process of falling asleep. This stage is characterized by polymorphic EEG, the disappearance of the alpha rhythm. During nocturnal sleep, this stage is usually short-lived (1-7 minutes). Sometimes you can observe slow movements of the eyeballs (MDG), while their fast movements (RDG) are completely absent;

stage II is characterized by the appearance on the EEG of the so-called sleep spindles (12-18 per second) and vertex potentials, two-phase waves with an amplitude of about 200 μV against a general background of electrical activity with an amplitude of 50-75 μV, as well as K-complexes (vertex potential with subsequent "sleep spindle"). This stage is the longest of all; it can take about 50 % entire night's sleep. Eye movements are not observed;

stage III is characterized by the presence of K-complexes and rhythmic activity (5-9 per second) and the appearance of slow, or delta waves (0.5-4 per second) with an amplitude above 75 microvolts. The total duration of delta waves in this stage takes from 20 to 50% of the entire III stage. There are no eye movements. Quite often, this stage of sleep is called delta sleep.

Stage IV - the stage of "REM" or "paradoxical" sleep is characterized by the presence of desynchronized mixed activity on the EEG: fast low-amplitude rhythms (according to these manifestations, it resembles stage I and active wakefulness - the beta rhythm), which can alternate with low-amplitude slow and short bursts of alpha rhythm, sawtooth discharges, REM with closed eyelids.

Night sleep usually consists of 4-5 cycles, each of which begins with the first stages of "slow" sleep and ends with "REM" sleep. The duration of the cycle in a healthy adult is relatively stable and is 90-100 minutes. In the first two cycles, "slow" sleep predominates, in the last - "fast", and "delta" sleep is sharply reduced and may even be absent.

The duration of "slow" sleep is 75-85%, and "paradoxical" - 15-25 % of total night sleep.

Muscle tone during sleep. Throughout all stages of "slow" sleep, the tone of skeletal muscles progressively decreases; in "REM" sleep, muscle tone is absent.

Vegetative shifts during sleep. During "slow" sleep, the work of the heart slows down, the respiratory rate slows down, Cheyne-Stokes breathing may occur, as "slow" sleep deepens, there may be partial obstruction of the upper respiratory tract and snoring. The secretory and motor functions of the digestive tract decrease as the "slow" sleep deepens. The body temperature before falling asleep decreases and as the "slow" sleep deepens, this decrease progresses. It is believed that a decrease in body temperature may be one of the reasons for the onset of sleep. Awakening is accompanied by an increase in body temperature.

In "fast" sleep, the heart rate may exceed the heart rate in wakefulness, various forms of arrhythmias and a significant change in blood pressure may occur. It is believed that a combination of these factors can lead to sudden death during sleep.

Breathing is irregular, often there is prolonged apnea. Thermoregulation is broken. Secretory and motor activity of the digestive tract is practically absent.

The stage of "REM" sleep is very characterized by the presence of an erection of the penis and clitoris, which is observed from the moment of birth.

It is believed that the lack of erection in adults indicates organic brain damage, and in children it will lead to a violation of normal sexual behavior in adulthood.

The functional significance of the individual stages of sleep is different. Currently, sleep as a whole is considered as an active state, as a phase of the daily (circadian) biorhythm, which performs an adaptive function. In a dream, the volume of short-term memory, emotional balance, and a disturbed system of psychological defenses are restored.

During delta sleep, the organization of information received during wakefulness takes place, taking into account the degree of its significance. It is believed that during delta sleep, physical and mental performance is restored, which is accompanied by muscle relaxation and pleasant experiences; An important component of this compensatory function is the synthesis of protein macromolecules during delta sleep, including in the CNS, which are further used during REM sleep.

Early research on REM sleep found that long-term deprivation of REM sleep resulted in significant mental changes. Emotional and behavioral disinhibition appears, hallucinations, paranoid ideas and other psychotic phenomena occur. In the future, these data were not confirmed, but the effect of REM sleep deprivation on emotional status, resistance to stress, and psychological defense mechanisms was proven. Moreover, analysis of many studies shows that REM sleep deprivation has a beneficial therapeutic effect in the case of endogenous depression. REM sleep plays a big role in reducing unproductive anxiety.

Sleep and mental activity, dreams. When falling asleep, volitional control over thoughts is lost, contact with reality is disrupted, and the so-called regressive thinking is formed. It occurs with a decrease in sensory input and is characterized by the presence of fantastic ideas, dissociation of thoughts and images, fragmentary scenes. Hypnagogic hallucinations occur, which are a series of visual frozen images (such as slides), while subjectively time flows much faster than in the real world. In "delta" sleep, talking in a dream is possible. Intense creative activity dramatically increases the duration of REM sleep.

Dreams were originally found to occur in "REM" sleep. Later it was shown that dreams are also characteristic of "slow" sleep, especially for the stage of "delta" sleep. The causes of occurrence, the nature of the content, the physiological significance of dreams have long attracted the attention of researchers. Among the ancient peoples, dreams were surrounded by mystical ideas about the afterlife and were identified with communication with the dead. The content of dreams was attributed the function of interpretations, predictions or prescriptions for subsequent actions or events. Many historical monuments testify to the significant influence of the content of dreams on the everyday and socio-political life of people from almost all ancient cultures.

In the ancient era of human history, dreams were also interpreted in their connection with active wakefulness and emotional needs. Sleep, as Aristotle defined, is a continuation of the mental life that a person lives in the waking state. Long before psychoanalysis 3. Freud, Aristotle believed that sensory function is reduced during sleep, giving way to the sensitivity of dreams to emotional subjective distortions.

I. M. Sechenov called dreams unprecedented combinations of experienced impressions.

Dreams are seen by all people, but many do not remember them. It is believed that in some cases this is due to the peculiarities of the memory mechanisms of a particular person, and in other cases it is a kind of psychological defense mechanism. There is a kind of displacement of dreams that are unacceptable in content, that is, we "try to forget."

The physiological meaning of dreams. It lies in the fact that in dreams the mechanism of imaginative thinking is used to solve problems that could not be solved in wakefulness with the help of logical thinking. A striking example is the well-known case of D. I. Mendeleev, who “saw” the structure of his famous periodic system of elements in a dream.

Dreams are a mechanism of a kind of psychological defense - reconciliation of unresolved conflicts in wakefulness, relieving tension and anxiety. It is enough to remember the proverb “the morning is wiser than the evening”. When resolving a conflict during sleep, dreams are remembered, otherwise dreams are forced out or dreams of a frightening nature appear - “only nightmares dream”.

Dreams are different for men and women. As a rule, in dreams, men are more aggressive, while in women, sexual components occupy a large place in the content of dreams.

Sleep and emotional stress. Studies have shown that emotional stress significantly affects nocturnal sleep, changing the duration of its stages, i.e., disrupting the structure of nocturnal sleep, and changing the content of dreams. Most often, with emotional stress, a reduction in the period of "REM" sleep and a lengthening of the latent period of falling asleep are noted. The subjects before the exam reduced the total duration of sleep and its individual stages. For skydivers, before difficult jumps, the period of falling asleep and the first stage of "slow" sleep increase.

In experiments with animals, I.P. Pavlov found that in some animals positive conditioned reflexes are formed quickly, while inhibitory reflexes are formed slowly. In other animals, on the contrary, positive conditioned reflexes are developed slowly, while inhibitory reflexes are developed faster. In the third group of animals, both of these reflexes are developed easily and are firmly fixed. Thus, it was found that the action of certain stimuli depends not only on their quality, but also on the typological features of higher nervous activity.

The typological features of higher nervous activity mean the dynamics of the course of nervous processes (excitation and inhibition) in individual individuals.

It is characterized by the following three typological properties:

1) the strength of nervous processes - the performance of nerve cells during excitation and inhibition;

2) the balance of nervous processes - the ratio between the strength of the processes of excitation and inhibition, their balance or the predominance of one process over another;

3) the mobility of nervous processes - the rate of change in the processes of excitation and inhibition.

Depending on the combination of the above properties, I.P. Pavlov singled out four types of higher nervous activity(Fig. 9).

First type (live type) characterized by increased strength of nervous processes, their balance and high mobility. Animals are easily excitable and mobile. The conversion of inhibitory conditioned reflexes into positive ones and vice versa proceeds quickly in them. In such animals, delayed conditioned reflexes are easily developed and the dynamic stereotype is altered (corresponds to the sanguine type of temperament according to Hippocrates).

Second type (unrestrained type) characterized by increased strength of nervous processes, but they are not balanced, the excitatory process prevails over the inhibitory one, these processes are mobile. Unbalance in strong dogs usually occurs in one form: there is a strong excitatory process and inhibition lagging behind it in strength. In animals of this type, positive conditioned reflexes are quickly formed, but inhibitory reflexes are developed slowly, with difficulty. Since the excitatory process is not balanced by the inhibitory one, with a very large nervous load in these animals, a breakdown of nervous activity often occurs. For the most part, these are fighting animals, aggressive, overly excited, unrestrained (in the words of I.P. Pavlov) (corresponding to the choleric type of temperament according to Hippocrates).

Third type (calm type) characterized by increased strength of nervous processes, their balance, but low mobility. Animals are little mobile, difficult to excite, slow. Alteration of the signal value of the conditioned stimulus occurs in them with great difficulty. Animals with this type of higher nervous activity are characterized by excellent performance of cortical neurons, easily tolerate strong external influences, and respond adequately to them. It is difficult to unbalance them, they hardly change their reactions, despite the change in the value of the conditioned signal (corresponds to the phlegmatic type of temperament according to Hippocrates).

Fourth type (weak type) characterized by reduced strength of nervous processes, reduced mobility. In representatives of this type, both nervous processes are weak (the inhibitory process is often especially weak). Such dogs are fussy, constantly looking around or, on the contrary, constantly stop, as if frozen in some position. This is due to the fact that external influences, even very small ones, have a strong influence on them. Conditioned reflexes are developed with difficulty, and prolonged or too strong stimuli cause rapid exhaustion, neuroses. Animals of a weak type differ from each other in other features (except for the strength of nervous processes), but against the background of a general weakness of the nervous system, these differences are not significant. (corresponds to the melancholic type of temperament according to Hippocrates).

Rice. 9. Types of higher nervous activity in animals according to I.P. Pavlov

A - lively type (sanguine), B - rampant type (choleric), C - calm type (phlegmatic), D - greenhouse type (weak type, melancholic)

Thus, the type of higher nervous activity is a certain combination of stable properties of excitation and inhibition, characteristic of the first higher activity of this or that individual.

The type of higher nervous activity gives a certain shape to the entire behavior of the animal, including in the experiment. The type of nervous activity refers to the natural features of the organism, but is not something invariable. It develops, trains and changes under the influence of environmental conditions. Laboratory experiments have established, for example, that in a strong type with a predominance of excitation, it is possible to develop a lagging inhibitory process by training.

It is known that under the influence of the conditions of existence that require this or that behavior, the body's responses are often fixed for life. At the same time, conditional connections arising as a result of external influences can mask the properties of the nervous system. Therefore, cases of discrepancy, inconsistency between the external behavior of the animal and its type of nervous activity are possible.

Various types of higher nervous activity underlie the four temperaments: sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic, melancholic.

In 1935 I.P. Pavlov in the article "General types of higher nervous activity of animals and humans" established the final classification of types of higher nervous activity:

1) strong, unbalanced, unrestrained (choleric);

2) strong, balanced, mobile (sanguine);

3) strong, balanced, inert (phlegmatic);

4) weak (melancholic).

IP Pavlov and his collaborators knew that these four types of higher nervous activity in their pure form are not often encountered. Therefore, they began to distinguish the so-called intermediate types. For example, when dogs, according to the characteristics of one property of nervous processes, can be attributed to a strong type, and according to the characteristics of another - to a weak one, they began to speak of a "weak variation of a strong type" or a "strong variation of a weak type." Here it should be said that Pavlov did not extend the understanding of these types to the higher nervous activity of man. His statement on one of the "Wednesdays" is known that "dog" types are not suitable for a person.

In the 20s. I.P. Pavlov studied the higher nervous activity of man, comparing his observations with previously obtained data on the GNI of animals. As a result of these observations, the idea of two signal systems was formulated.

The first signaling system is the system of the body that ensures the formation immediate representations of the surrounding reality with the help of conditional connections, through the sense organs. Signals for the first signaling system are color, smell, shape, etc. That is, this system is inherent in both animals and humans.

The second signaling system is the system of the body that ensures the formation generalized representations of the surrounding reality with the help of speech. The signal for the second signaling system is the word. That is, this system is inherent only to man. The second signaling system depends on the functioning of the first signaling system, but at the same time can control its operation.

Due to the presence of the second signal system, we have not only figurative, but also abstract thinking.

I.P. Pavlov singled out purely human types of higher nervous activity (Fig. 10):

1) artistic type - persons in whom the first signal system prevails. Such people are distinguished by figurative-emotional thinking, they have a developed imagination. There are many such people among artists, artists, musicians.

2) thinking type - persons in whom the second signaling system predominates. Such people are characterized by the ability to analyze, systematize, they are dominated by abstract thinking.

3) medium type - persons in whom both the first and second signaling systems are equally developed. To this type, according to I.P. Pavlova, belongs to most people.

4) brilliant type - this type was presented in the latest works of I.P. Pavlova. And he proposed to refer people to this type, in whom both the first and second signaling systems are very strongly developed. As Ivan Petrovich himself noted, there are very few such people, these are real geniuses.

Rice. 10. Types of human GNI (according to I.P. Pavlov):

1 - the first signal system, 2 - the second signal system, A - artistic type, B - thinking type, C - average type, G - brilliant type.

Each person is born with a certain set of biological features of his personality, manifested in temperament. Significant differences in the behavior of people, due to the properties of their temperaments, are even among blood brothers and sisters, among twins living side by side. Temperaments differ among the Siamese twins Masha and Dasha, all children who received the same upbringing, have the same worldview, close ideals, beliefs and moral principles.

What is temperament? Temperament is called the innate characteristics of a person, which determine the dynamics of the course of his mental processes. It is temperament that determines a person's reactions to external circumstances. It largely forms the character of a person, his individuality and is a kind of link between the body and cognitive processes.

Temperament is a manifestation of the type of the nervous system in human activity, individual psychological characteristics of a person, in which the mobility of his nervous processes, strength, and balance are manifested.

Excitation and inhibition can be balanced or dominate each other, they can proceed with different strength, move from center to center and replace each other in the same centers, i.e. have some mobility.

The term "temperament" itself was introduced by the ancient physician Claudius Galen and comes from the Latin word "temperans", which means moderate. The very word temperament can be translated as "the proper ratio of parts." Hippocrates believed that the type of temperament is determined by the predominance of one of the fluids in the body. If blood predominates in the body, then the person will be mobile, that is, have a sanguine temperament, yellow bile will make a person impulsive and hot - choleric, black bile - sad and timid, that is, melancholic, and the predominance of lymph will give a person calmness and slowness, make phlegmatic.

Many researchers, in particular, V. S. Merlin, S. L. Rubinshtein, believe that temperaments in their pure form are very rare, usually in every person they are present in various proportions. It is also not necessary to equate character and temperament. The latter only characterizes the type of the nervous system, its properties, is associated with the structure of the body and even metabolism. But, in no way connected with the views of the individual, beliefs, tastes and does not determine the possibilities of the individual.

In the nerve centers of the human brain cortex, two opposite active processes take place in a complex interaction: excitation and inhibition. Excitation of some parts of the brain causes inhibition of others, this can explain why a person who is passionate about something ceases to perceive the environment. So, for example, the switching of attention is associated with the transfer of excitation from one part of the brain to another and, accordingly, the inhibition of the abandoned parts of the brain.

In the psychology of individual differences, the following properties of temperament are distinguished: excitation - inhibition, lability - rigidity, mobility - inertia, activity - passivity, as well as balance, sensitivity, reaction speed.

An important property of higher nervous activity is the balance of nervous processes, that is, the proportional ratio of excitation and inhibition. In some people, these two processes are mutually balanced, while in others this balance is not observed: either the process of inhibition or excitation predominates. One of the main properties of higher nervous activity is the mobility of nervous processes. The mobility of the nervous system is characterized by the rapidity of the processes of excitation and inhibition, the rapidity of their onset and termination (when life conditions require it), the rate of movement of nervous processes (irradiation and concentration), the rapidity of the appearance of the nervous process in response to irritation, the rapidity of the formation of new conditional connections. Combinations of these properties of the nervous processes of excitation and inhibition formed the basis for determining the type of higher nervous activity. Depending on the combination of strength, mobility and balance of the processes of excitation and inhibition, four main types of higher nervous activity are distinguished.

Weak type . Representatives of the weak type of the nervous system cannot withstand strong, prolonged and concentrated stimuli. Weak are the processes of inhibition and excitation. Under the action of strong stimuli, the development of conditioned reflexes is delayed. Along with this, there is a high sensitivity (i.e., a low threshold) to the actions of stimuli.

Strong balanced type . Distinguished by a strong nervous system, it is characterized by an imbalance in the basic nervous processes - the predominance of excitation processes over inhibition processes.

Strong balanced movable type . The processes of inhibition and excitation are strong and balanced, but their speed, mobility, and rapid change of nervous processes lead to a relative instability of the nervous connections.

Strong balanced inert type . Strong and balanced nervous processes are characterized by low mobility. Representatives of this type are outwardly always calm, even, difficult to excite.

Temperament types

In psychology, there are four types of temperament: Choleric, Melancholic, Phlegmatic and Sanguine. It cannot be said that Melancholic is better than Choleric, and Sanguine is better than Phlegmatic. All have their pros and cons.

1. The melancholic has a weak type of nervous system and, therefore, is unstable in the face of circumstances that require overcoming or strong excitation of the nervous system. The remaining three types of the nervous system are considered strong. A person is easily vulnerable, prone to constant experience of various events, he reacts little to external factors. He cannot restrain his asthenic experiences by an effort of will, he is highly impressionable, easily emotionally vulnerable. These are traits of emotional weakness.

2. Phlegmatic temperaments, this type of temperament is called, which, being a strong type, is nevertheless distinguished by low mobility of nervous processes. Once having arisen in certain centers, they are distinguished by constancy and strength. The inert nervous system corresponds to this type. Slow, imperturbable, has stable aspirations and mood, outwardly stingy in the manifestation of emotions and feelings. He shows perseverance and perseverance in work, remaining calm and balanced. In work, he is productive, compensating for his slowness with diligence.

3. Sanguine temperament - another strong type of temperament - is characterized by the fact that the processes of excitation and inhibition are quite strong, balanced and easily mobile. A lively, hot, mobile person, with frequent changes of mood, impressions, with a quick reaction to all events taking place around him, quite easily reconciled with his failures and troubles. He is very productive at work, when he is interested, getting very excited from this, if the work is not interesting, he is indifferent to it, he becomes bored.

4. Choleric temperament - the third strong type of temperament - unbalanced, unrestrained, excitation processes prevail over weak inhibition. This type of nervous system is quickly depleted and prone to breakdowns. Fast, passionate, impulsive, but completely unbalanced, with sharply changing moods with emotional outbursts, quickly exhausted. He does not have a balance of nervous processes, this sharply distinguishes him from a sanguine person. Choleric, carried away, carelessly wastes his strength and quickly depletes.

Good upbringing, control and self-control makes it possible for a melancholic person to manifest himself as an impressionable person with deep feelings and emotions; phlegmatic, as a seasoned person, without hasty decisions; sanguine, as a highly responsive person for any work; choleric, as a passionate, frantic and active person in work. Negative properties of temperament can manifest themselves: in a melancholic - isolation and shyness; phlegmatic - indifference to people, dryness; in a sanguine person - superficiality, dispersion, inconstancy. A person with any type of temperament may or may not be capable, the type of temperament does not affect a person’s abilities, it’s just that some life tasks are easier to solve for a person of one type of temperament, others for another. Temperament is one of the most significant personality traits. Interest in this problem arose more than two and a half thousand years ago. It was caused by the obvious existence of individual differences, which are due to the peculiarities of the biological and physiological structure and development of the organism, as well as the peculiarities of social development, the uniqueness of social ties and contacts. The biologically determined personality structures include, first of all, temperament. Temperament determines the presence of many mental differences between people, including the intensity and stability of emotions, emotional impressionability, the pace and vigor of actions, as well as a number of other dynamic characteristics.

Despite the fact that repeated and constant attempts have been made to investigate the problem of temperament, this problem still belongs to the category of controversial and not completely resolved problems of modern psychological science. Today there are many approaches to the study of temperament. However, with all the existing variety of approaches, most researchers recognize that temperament is the biological foundation on which a person is formed as a social being, and personality traits due to temperament are the most stable and long-term. It is impossible to raise the question of which of the temperaments is better. Each of them has its positive and negative sides. Passion, activity, energy of the choleric, mobility, liveliness and responsiveness of the sanguine, the depth and stability of the feelings of the melancholic, the calmness and lack of haste of the phlegmatic are examples of those valuable personality traits that are associated with individual temperaments. At the same time, with any of the temperaments, there may be a danger of developing undesirable personality traits. For example, a choleric temperament can make a person unrestrained, abrupt, prone to constant "explosions". A sanguine temperament can lead to frivolity, a tendency to scatter, insufficient depth and stability of feelings. With a melancholic temperament, a person may develop excessive isolation, a tendency to completely immerse himself in his own experiences, and excessive shyness. A phlegmatic temperament can make a person lethargic, inert, indifferent to all the impressions of life. Despite this temperament, the whole life of its owner is formed as well as his character.

In our opinion, temperament changes throughout life and depends on the prevailing circumstances. Let's say a person ... a sanguine person. Everything in his life is calm. People appear in his life who begin to interrogate him, accuse him, bring him to hysterics, to tears. If such an appeal lasts longer than a month, then the person begins to cry more, becomes Melancholic. This Melancholic is constantly being pulled, humiliated. This Melancholic becomes Choleric. It can already be compared to a nuclear bomb. He starts to explode and yells at everyone who laughs from the side, who says something to him as a joke, but he does not understand. It has a negative effect on those around you. But this rarely happens. Temperament is the pace or cycle of expressing emotions and qualities.

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