Ivan Pavlov is one of the most prominent scientific authorities in Russia, and what can I say, in the whole world. Being a very talented scientist, throughout his life he was able to make an impressive contribution to the development of psychology and physiology. It is Pavlov who is considered the founder of the science of higher nervous activity person. The scientist created the largest physiological school in Russia and made a number of significant discoveries in the field of regulation of digestion.

Brief biography

Ivan Pavlov was born in 1849 in Ryazan. In 1864, he graduated from the Ryazan Theological School, after which he entered the seminary. In his last year, Pavlov came across the work of Professor I. Sechenov, “Reflexes of the Brain,” after which the future scientist forever connected his life with serving science. In 1870, he entered the Faculty of Law at St. Petersburg University, but a few days later he was transferred to one of the departments of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics. Department of Medical-Surgical Academy, which long time was led by Sechenov, after the scientist was forced to move to Odessa, she came under the leadership of Ilya Zion. It was from him that Pavlov adopted the masterly technique of surgical intervention.

In 1883, the scientist defended his doctoral dissertation on the topic of centrifugal cardiac nerves. Over the next few years, he worked in the laboratories of Breslau and Leipzig, led by R. Heidenhain and K. Ludwig. In 1890, Pavlov held the positions of head of the department of pharmacology of the Military Medical Academy and head of the physiological laboratory at the Institute of Experimental Medicine. In 1896, the Department of Physiology of the Military Medical Academy came under his care, where he worked until 1924. In 1904, Pavlov received the Nobel Prize for his successful research into the physiology of digestive mechanisms. Until his death in 1936, the scientist served as rector of the Institute of Physiology of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Pavlov's scientific achievements

A distinctive feature of Academician Pavlov’s research methodology was that he connected the physiological activity of the body with mental processes. This connection has been confirmed by the results of numerous studies. The scientist’s works describing the mechanisms of digestion served as an impetus for the emergence of a new direction - the physiology of higher nervous activity. It was to this area that Pavlov devoted more than 35 years of his scientific work. His mind came up with the idea of ​​​​creating a method of conditioned reflexes.

In 1923, Pavlov published the first edition of his work, in which he describes in detail more than twenty years of experience in studying the higher nervous activity of animals. In 1926, near Leningrad, the Soviet government built a Biological Station, where Pavlov launched research in the field of genetics of behavior and higher nervous activity of anthropoids. Back in 1918, the scientist conducted research in Russian psychiatric clinics, and already in 1931, on his initiative, a clinical base for studying animal behavior was created.

It should be noted that in the field of knowledge of brain functions, Pavlov made perhaps the most serious contribution in history. Application of it scientific methods made it possible to lift the veil of mystery about mental illness and outline possible ways for their successful treatment. With the support of the Soviet government, the academician had access to all the resources necessary for science, which allowed him to conduct revolutionary research, the results of which were truly stunning.

Not a single physiologist in the world was as famous as Ivan Petrovich Pavlov, the creator of the materialist doctrine of the higher nervous activity of animals and humans. This teaching has enormous practical significance in medicine and pedagogy, in philosophy and psychology, in sports, work, in any human activity - everywhere it serves as the basis and starting point.

Main directions scientific activity Pavlova - study of the physiology of blood circulation, digestion and higher nervous activity. The scientist developed methods of surgical operations to create an “isolated ventricle” and apply fistulas to the digestive glands, and applied a new approach for his time - a “chronic experiment”, which made it possible to conduct observations on practically healthy animals in conditions as close as possible to natural ones. This method made it possible to minimize the distorting influence of “acute” experiments that required serious surgical intervention, separation of parts of the body, and anesthesia of the animal. Using the “isolated ventricle” method, Pavlov established the presence of two phases of juice secretion: neuro-reflex and humoral-clinical.

The next stage in the scientific activity of Ivan Petrovich Pavlov is the study of higher nervous activity. The transition from work in the field of digestion was due to his ideas about the adaptive nature of the activity of the digestive glands. Pavlov believed that adaptive phenomena are determined not simply by reflexes in the oral cavity: the cause should be sought in mental arousal. As new data was obtained about the functioning of the external parts of the brain, a new scientific discipline- the science of higher nervous activity. It was based on the idea of ​​dividing reflexes (mental factors) into conditioned and unconditioned.

Pavlov and his collaborators discovered the laws of the formation and extinction of conditioned reflexes; proved that conditioned reflex activity is carried out with the participation of the cerebral cortex. In the cerebral cortex, an inhibition center was discovered - the antipode of the excitation center; researched different types and types of inhibition (external, internal); the laws of propagation and narrowing of the sphere of action of excitation and inhibition - the main nervous processes - have been discovered; sleep problems have been studied and its phases have been established; the protective role of inhibition has been studied; The role of the collision of the processes of excitation and inhibition in the occurrence of neuroses has been studied.

Pavlov became widely famous due to his doctrine of types nervous system, which is also based on ideas about the relationship between the processes of excitation and inhibition.

Finally, another merit of Pavlov is the doctrine of signal systems. In humans, in addition to the first signaling system, which is also inherent in animals, there is also a second signaling system - a special form of higher nervous activity associated with speech function and abstract thinking.

Pavlov formulated ideas about the analytical-synthetic activity of the brain and created the doctrine of analyzers, the localization of functions in the cerebral cortex and the systematic nature of the work of the cerebral hemispheres.

The scientific work of Ivan Petrovich Pavlov had a huge impact on the development of related fields - medicine and biology, and left a noticeable mark on psychiatry and psychology. Under the influence of his ideas, large scientific schools in therapy, surgery, psychiatry, and neuropathology were formed. psychology nervous pavlov

In 1904 Ivan Petrovich Pavlov was awarded the Nobel Prize for his research into the mechanisms of digestion.

In 1907 Pavlov was elected member Russian Academy Sciences; foreign member of the Royal Society of London.

In 1915 was awarded the Copley Medal of the Royal Society of London.

In 1928 became an honorary member of the Royal Society of Physicians of London.

In 1935 at the age of 86 (!) years, Pavlov chaired the sessions of the 15th International Physiological Congress, held in Moscow and Leningrad.

Biographical analysis creative path Ivan Petrovich Pavlov

As I read various biographies of Ivan Petrovich, the image of an icebreaker, a tank that makes its way through the jungle, ice, right through, leading people like a tug of a convoy of ships, was created in my imagination. A feeling of inexhaustible energy gushing out of this great man, a feeling of unshakable power, closely intertwined with a passion for science. A man with feeling self-esteem, a brilliant thinker, he at the same time was a very modest patriot of his Motherland who did not tolerate self-admiration.

One gets the impression that it was not the circumstances, not the people around him that shaped him as a scientist, but he himself! Exclusively due to his hard work, perseverance in achieving his goal, and his ardent love for physiology. Moreover, by his example and assistance, Ivan Petrovich helped the formation of many other scientists.

The end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries were marked by major achievements in the field of digestive physiology.

Pavlov paid a lot of attention to the methodology of his work: he created a unified method for understanding physiological patterns, combining the previously dominant analytical approach with the synthetic one he introduced.Thanks to the development of a new method Studies of digestive processes by Ivan Petrovich Pavlov and his students studied the basic patterns of activity of various parts of the digestive canal.

Rice. Ivan Petrovich Pavlov

Based on experimental material, I. P. Pavlov created a doctrine about the work of the main digestive glands and about the activity of the digestive system as a whole, which is still theoretical basis physiology.

The results of I. P. Pavlov’s research on the physiology of digestion are summarized in his book “Lectures on the work of the main digestive glands,” published in 1897 and which has become a classic work.

For outstanding achievements in the field of studying the physiology of digestion in 1904 by I.P. Pavlov is awarded the Nobel Prize.

Rice. I. P. Pavlov in the auditorium of the Department of Physiology Military Medical Academy after the demonstration of the lecture experiment. 1912

works by I. P. Pavlov

Before Pavlov's work, the study of knowledge about digestion was limited to fragmentary information about individual aspects of the functioning of the digestive system. Information was obtained mainly by observation or throughexperiments on anesthetized animals with destroyed connections between parts of the body.

chronic experiment method

I. P. Pavlov introduced a new type of experiment - chronic, on an intact or pre-operated animal.

He conducted research on the functioning of the glands of the gastrointestinal tract on a healthy, non-anesthetized animal under conditions of a chronic experiment while maintaining the continuous functioning of all parts of the digestive system of the animal’s body.

Pavlov studied the basic patterns of the work of individual organs of the gastrointestinal tract, the interaction of these organs in the process of operation of the entire digestive system, and determined the basic physiological mechanisms of its regulation. An important discovery was the definition of the regulatory role of the central nervous system in ensuring the integral functioning of the digestive system.

Rice. Pavlov's Dog (Timiryazev Museum)

artificial fistula method

It took more than 10 years to develop a technique for obtaining an artificial fistula (opening) of the gastrointestinal tract. It was extremely difficult to perform such an operation, since the juice pouring out of the intestines digested the intestines and the abdominal wall. I.P. Pavlov learned to insert excretory tubes so that there were no erosions, and he could receive pure digestive juice throughout the entire gastrointestinal tract: from the salivary gland to the large intestine.

Rice. Chronic experiment with installation of intestinal fistula

experiments with imaginary feeding

In experiments with imaginary feeding Pavlov proved that the secretion of gastric juice, caused by the action of food on the receptors of the oral cavity, is of a reflex nature.

In “sham feeding,” the esophagus is cut so that food does not enter the stomach.

Rice. Imaginary feeding

If the vagus nerves (parasympathetic nerves that connect the medulla oblongata (CNS) with the digestive glands) are cut in a dog with the operations described above, then imaginary feeding will no longer cause the release of gastric juice.

I.P. Pavlov concluded: food excites the taste apparatus, through the taste nerves the excitation is transmitted to the medulla oblongata, and from there through the vagus nerves to the gastric glands, i.e. there is a reflex effect of oral cavity receptors on the glands stomach.

This method was proposed by I.P. Pavlov in 1890 to study the role of the central nervous system in the regulation of gastric secretion, as well as pure digestive juices can be examined.

Studies of the functioning of the salivary glands

When starting to study the salivary glands, Pavlov had, perhaps, the best initial basis of all the issues that he dealt with in the field of the physiology of digestion.

By the time the research began, it was known that there was innervation of the salivary glands and that the oral cavity contained a huge number of different receptors. However, it was erroneously believed that salivary secretion was a response to general stimulation of oral receptors.

Using a chronic experiment, Pavlov established that saliva secretion depends on specific stimuli. Besides, After analyzing the results of the experiments, Pavlov came to the conclusion that depending on the stimuli, the properties of the secretedsaliva: it can perform a digestive, protective or sanitary function. These changes are adaptive in nature.

gastric function tests

To study the functioning of the stomach, Pavlov created a method known as “Pavlov’s operation of the small stomach.”

In the stomach cavity, a pouch is quickly sewn from the main mass of the stomach, the so-called small stomach, with a cavity isolated from the large stomach, but sharing with the latter a common wall of muscular and serous layers.


Rice. Scheme of the operation to isolate the small ventricle and a dog with a Pavlovian ventricle (a - fistula tube)

The operation performed in this way preserved both the nutrition and innervation of the created ventricle, making it completely identical to the large main stomach, preserving and repeating all its functional functions without exception (juice secretion, motility, and other manifestations of activity), at the same time, not allowing food ingress.

The creation of an isolated ventricle made it possible to study in detail the processes occurring in the stomach and identify two phases of gastric juice secretion: neuro-reflex and humoral-clinical.

Based on the results of these studies, I. P. Pavlov created the work “Lectures on the work of the main digestive glands” in 1897.

Basic principles of Pavlovian physiology

  1. The organism is a single whole:
    A living organism is a single whole in which the activities of cells, tissues, organs, and physiological systems are coordinated and connected. The body has the ability to self-regulate functions.
  2. Unity of organism and environment.
    The body is in constant interaction with environment. Between external environment and the body constantly exchanges substances and energy. To survive, the body must constantly adapt to the external environment.
  3. The principle of nervism.

The connection of the body with the external environment occurs continuously through simple and complex relationships: simple ones are carried out with the participation of innate unconditioned reflexes, complex ones - due to acquired conditioned reflexes. However, a person is also influenced by the social environment. In human interactions with the social environment vital role belongs to the so-called second signaling system, which underlies human speech and thinking.

nervism principle

Pavlov, as a follower of Sechenov, worked a lot on nervous regulation.The research of I. P. Pavlov made a significant contribution to the development of the principle of nervism in physiology.Pavlov first defined the principle of nervism in his doctoral dissertation: “Nervism should be understood as a physiological direction that seeks to extend the influence of the nervous system to the greatest possible number of body activities.”

I. P. Pavlov established the importance of the nervous system in the regulation of the functions of the circulatory system and the gastrointestinal tract, was the first to discover the influence of the nervous system on metabolic processes occurring in organs and tissues (trophic influence of the nervous system), and showed that the activity of the nervous system ensures unification ( integration) of the functions of individual organs and systems of the body and its connection with the external environment.

One of the most important provisions of I. P. Pavlov’s work is to clarify the role of the cerebral cortex in the regulation of body functions.

Pavlov, Ivan Petrovich



(born in 1849) - physiologist, son of a priest of the Ryazan province. He graduated from the course of science at the Medical-Surgical Academy. in 1879, in 1884 he was appointed privat-docent of physiology and in the same year received a 2-year business trip abroad for scientific purposes; in 1890 he was appointed extraordinary professor at Tomsk University. in the Department of Pharmacology, but in the same year was moved to Imp. military medical acad. extraordinary professor, and since 1897 ordinary professor of the academy.

Outstanding scientific works of prof. P. can be divided into 3 groups: 1) work related to the innervation of the heart; 2) work related to the Ekkov operation; 3) work regarding the secretory activity of the glands of the digestive tract. When assessing his scientific activity, one must take into account the totality of scientific results achieved by his laboratory, in which his students worked with the participation of himself. In the 1st group of works concerning the innervation of the heart, prof. P. experimentally showed that during its work the heart is regulated, in addition to the already known delaying and accelerating nerves, also by the strengthening nerve, and at the same time he gives facts that give the right to think about the existence of weakening nerves. In the 2nd group of works, P., having actually carried out the operation of connecting the portal vein with the inferior cava, previously conceived by Dr. Eck, and thus arranging a bypass of the liver with blood carried from the digestive tract, pointed out the importance of the liver as a purifier of harmful products carried with blood from the digestive canal, and together with prof. He also pointed out to Nensky the purpose of the liver in the processing of carbamide ammonia; Thanks to this operation, in all likelihood, it will be possible to clarify many more important questions, one way or another related to the activity of the liver. Finally, the 3rd group of works and the most extensive, clarifies the regulation of the separation of the glands of the gastrointestinal canal, which became possible only after the execution of a number of operations conceived and carried out by P. Of these, esophagotomy should be put in the foreground, i.e. cutting the esophagus in the neck and engraftment its ends apart at the corners of the wound, which made it possible to accurately determine the full meaning of appetite and observe the released pure gastric juice (from the gastric fistula) due to mental influence (appetite). No less important is his operation of forming a double stomach with preserved innervation; the latter made it possible to monitor the secretion of gastric juice and find out the entire mechanism of this separation during normal digestion in the other stomach. Then he developed a method for forming a permanent fistula of the pancreatic duct: namely, by sewing it with a piece of mucous membrane, he obtained a fistula that remained indefinitely. Using both these operations and others, he found out that the mucous membrane of the gastrointestinal canal has, like the skin, a specific excitability - it seems to understand that it is given bread, meat, water, etc. and in response to This food is sent by one or another juice and of one or another composition. With one food, more gastric juice is secreted and with a greater or lesser content of acid or enzyme, with another there is increased activity of the pancreas, with a third liver, with a fourth we can observe a brake for one gland, and at the same time increased activity of another, etc. Pointing to This specific excitability of the mucous membrane, he also indicated the neural pathways along which the brain sends impulses for this activity - he pointed out the importance of the vagus and sympathetic nerves for the sections of the stomach and pancreas. From the works we will mention: from the 1st group - “Strengthening nerve of the heart” (“Weekly Clinical Newspaper”, 1888); 2nd group: “Ekkovsky fistula of the inferior vena cava and portal veins and its consequences for the body” (Archive of Biological Sciences of the Imperial Institute of Experimental Medicine (1892 vol., I); from the 3rd “Lecture on the work of the main digestive glands” (1897; all related works of P. himself and his students are listed here). He also authored the study: “Centrifugal nerves of the heart” (St. Petersburg, 1883).

(Brockhaus)

Pavlov, Ivan Petrovich

Rus. scientist-physiologist, creator of materialistic science. doctrines of higher nervous activity of animals and humans, Acad. (since 1907, corresponding member since 1901). P. developed new physiological principles. research that provides knowledge of the activity of the organism as a single whole, located in unity and constant interaction with its environment. Studying the highest manifestation of life - the higher nervous activity of animals and humans, P. laid the foundations of materialistic psychology.

P. was born in Ryazan into the family of a priest. After graduating from the Ryazan Theological School, he entered the Ryazan Theological Seminary in 1864. The years of study at the seminary coincided with the rapid development of natural science in Russia. P.’s worldview was greatly influenced by the ideas of the great Russian thinkers, revolutionary democrats A. I. Herzen, V. G. Belinsky, N. G. Chernyshevsky, N. A. Dobrolyubov, and the works of the educational publicist D. I. Pisarev and others. . and especially the work of the “father of Russian physiology” I.M. Sechenov - “Reflexes of the Brain” (1863). Getting carried away natural sciences, P. entered St. Petersburg in 1870. univ. While studying in the natural sciences department of physics and mathematics. fact, II. worked in the laboratory under the guidance of the famous physiologist I. F. Tsion, where he performed several scientific research; for the work “On the nerves that control the work in the pancreas” (jointly with M. M. Afanasyev), the university council awarded him a gold medal in 1875. Upon graduation from university (1875) II. entered the third year of medical-surgical. Academy and at the same time worked (1876-78) in the laboratory of prof. physiology by K. N. Ustimovich. During the course at the academy, I conducted a number of experimental work, for the totality of which he was awarded a gold medal (1880). In 1879 he graduated from Medical-Surgical. Academy (reorganized in 1881 into the Military Medical Academy) and was left with it for improvement. Back in 1879, P., at the invitation of S.P. Botkin, began working in physiology. laboratories at his clinic (later he headed this laboratory); P. worked there for approx. 10 years, actually managing all pharmacological. and physiological research.

In 1883 P. defended his dissertation. for the degree of Doctor of Medicine and the following year received the title of Privat-Associate Professor of Military Medical Sciences. academies; since 1890 he was prof. there in the department of pharmacology, and from 1895 - in the department of physiology, where he worked until 1925. Since 1891, he was also in charge of physiology. department of the Institute of Experimental Medicine, organized with his active participation. Working for 45 years within the walls of this institute, P. carried out major research on the physiology of digestion and developed the doctrine of conditioned reflexes. In 1913, for research into higher nervous activity, on P.’s initiative, a special building was built at the Institute of Experimental Medicine, in which for the first time soundproof chambers were equipped for the study of conditioned reflexes (the so-called tower of silence).

P.'s creativity reached its greatest flourishing after the Great October Revolution. socialist revolution. Communist the party and the Soviet government always provided P. with constant support, surrounding him with attention and care. In 1921, signed by V.I. Lenin, a special decree of the Council was issued People's Commissars on creating conditions that ensure scientific work P. Later, for P., according to his plans, Biological. station in the village Koltushi (now the village of Pavlovo) near Leningrad, which became, in P.’s words, “the capital of conditioned reflexes.”

P.'s works have received recognition from scientists all over the world. During his lifetime he was awarded honorary titles numerous domestic and foreign scientific institutions, academies, universities and various societies. In 1935, at the 15th International Congress of Physiologists (Leningrad - Moscow), he was crowned with the honorary title of “elder of physiologists of the world.”

I.P. Pavlov died at the age of 87 in Leningrad. He was buried at the Volkov cemetery.

During the first period of scientific activity (1874-88), P. was mainly engaged in the study of the physiology of the cardiovascular system. His diss refers to this time. “Centrifugal nerves of the heart” (1883), in which the existence of special nerve fibers, strengthening and weakening the activity of the heart. Based on his research, P. suggested that the amplifying nerve he discovered exerts its effect on the heart by changing the metabolism in the heart muscle. Developing these ideas, P. later created the doctrine of trophic. functions of the nervous system (“On trophic innervation”, 1922).

A number of P.’s works dating back to this period are devoted to the study of the nervous mechanisms of blood pressure regulation. In exceptionally thorough and accurate experiments, he established that any change in blood pressure reflexively causes such changes in the cardiovascular system, which lead to a return of blood pressure to original level. P. believed that such reflex self-regulation of the cardiovascular system is possible only due to the presence of receptors with specific properties in the walls of blood vessels. sensitivity to fluctuations in blood pressure and other irritants (physical or chemical). With further research, P. and his colleagues proved that the principle of reflex self-regulation is a universal principle of functioning not only of the cardiovascular, but also of all other systems of the body.

Already in his work on the physiology of blood circulation, P.'s high skill and innovative approach to conducting experiments were evident. Having set himself the task of studying the effect of ingesting liquid and dry food on a dog’s blood pressure, P. boldly departs from traditional acute experiments on anesthetized animals and is looking for new research techniques. He accustoms the dog to experience and, through long training, ensures that without anesthesia it is possible to dissect a thin arterial branch on the dog’s paw and re-record blood pressure over many hours after various influences. Methodical the approach to solving the problem in this (one of the first) work is very important, since in it one can see, as it were, the emergence of a remarkable method of chronic experience, developed by P. during the period of his research on the physiology of digestion. Another major experimental achievement was P.’s creation of a new method for studying the activity of the heart using the so-called. cardiopulmonary drug (1886); Only a few years later, in a very similar form, a similar cardiopulmonary drug was described in English. physiologist E. Starling, after whom this drug was incorrectly named.

Along with work in the field of physiology of the cardiovascular system, P. during the first period of his activity was engaged in the study of certain issues of the physiology of digestion. But systematically He began to conduct research in this area only in 1891 in the laboratory of the Institute of Experimental Medicine. The guiding idea in these works, as well as in studies on blood circulation, was the idea of ​​nervism, adopted by P. from Botkin and Sechenov, by which he understood a “physiological direction” that seeks to extend the influence of the nervous system to the greatest possible number of body activities" ( Pavlov I.P., Complete collection, vol. 1, 2nd ed., 1951, p. 197). However, the study of the regulatory function of the nervous system (in the process of digestion) in a healthy normal animal could not be carried out methodically. , which the physiology of that time had.

P. devoted a number of years to the creation of new methods, new techniques of “physiological thinking.” He developed special operations on the organs of the digestive tract and introduced the chronic method into practice. experiment, which made it possible to study the activity of the digestive apparatus in a healthy animal. In 1879, P., for the first time in the history of physiology, imposed a chronic pancreatic duct fistula. Later they were offered chronic surgery. bile duct fistulas. Under the leadership of P. in 1895, D. L. Glinsky developed a technique for applying a simple and convenient fistula of the ducts of the salivary glands, which subsequently had exceptional significance in the creation of the doctrine of higher nervous activity. One of the most remarkable achievements of physiology. The experiment was a method created by P. in 1894 for monitoring the activity of the gastric glands by separating part of it from the stomach in the form of an isolated (solitary) ventricle, which completely preserves the nervous connections with the central nervous system (small ventricle according to Pavlov). In 1889, P., together with E. O. Shumova-Simanovskaya, developed the operation of esophagotomy in combination with gastrostomy on dogs. An experiment with imaginary feeding was carried out on esophagotomized animals with a gastric fistula - the most outstanding experiment in physiology of the 19th century. Subsequently, this operation was used by P. to obtain pure gastric juice for medicinal use.

Mastering all these methods, P. actually re-created the physiology of digestion; for the first time, with extreme clarity, he showed the leading role of the nervous system in regulating the activity of the entire digestive process. P. studied the dynamics of the secretory process of the gastric, pancreas and salivary glands and the functioning of the liver when consuming various nutrients and proved their ability to adapt to the nature of the secretion agents used.

In 1897 P. published. the famous work - "Lectures on the work of the main digestive glands", which became a reference guide for physiologists around the world. For this work in 1904 he was awarded the Nobel Prize.

Like Botkin, he sought to combine the interests of physiology and medicine. This was expressed, in particular, in his justification and development of the principle of experimental therapy. P. was engaged in the search for scientifically based methods of treating experimentally created pathologies. states. In direct connection with his work on experimental therapy are his pharmacological studies. problems. P. considered pharmacology as a theoretical one. honey. discipline, development paths are closely related to experimental therapy.

The study of the connections of the organism with its environment, carried out with the help of the nervous system, the study of the patterns that determine the normal behavior of the organism in its natural relationships with the environment, determined P.'s transition to the study of the functions of the cerebral hemispheres. The immediate reason for this was his observations of the so-called. psychic secretion of saliva in animals, occurring at the sight or smell of food, under the influence of various stimuli associated with food intake, etc. Considering the essence of this phenomenon, P. was able, based on Sechenov’s statements about the reflex nature of all manifestations of brain activity, to understand that the phenomenon is mental. secretion allows the physiologist to objectively study the so-called. mental activity.

“After persistently pondering the subject, after a difficult mental struggle, I finally decided,” wrote Pavlov, “even before the so-called mental excitement, to remain in the role of a pure physiologist, that is, an objective external observer and experimenter, dealing exclusively with external phenomena and their relationships" (Complete collection of works, vol. 3, book 1, 2nd ed., 1951, p. 14). P. called unconditioned reflex a permanent connection between an external agent and the body’s response to it, while the connection is temporary, formed during an individual’s life, by a conditioned reflex.

With the introduction of the conditioned reflex method, there was no longer any need to speculate about internal state animal under the influence of various stimuli. All the activities of the body, previously studied only using subjective methods, became available for objective study; the opportunity opened up to learn experimentally the connection between the organism and the external environment. The conditioned reflex itself has become, in P.’s words, a “central phenomenon” for physiology, using the Crimea it has become possible to study both normal and pathological more fully and accurately. activity of the cerebral hemispheres. P. first reported on conditioned reflexes in 1903 in the report “Experimental psychology and psychopathology in animals” at the 14th International Medical Sciences. congress in Madrid.

For many years, P., together with numerous collaborators and students, developed the doctrine of higher nervous activity. Step by step, the subtlest mechanisms of cortical activity were revealed, the relationship between the cerebral cortex and the underlying parts of the nervous system was clarified, and the patterns of the processes of excitation and inhibition in the cortex were studied. It was found that these processes are in close and inextricable connection with each other, capable of widely radiating, concentrating and mutually influencing each other. According to P., all the analyzing and synthesizing activity of the cerebral cortex is based on the complex interaction of these two processes. These ideas created the physiological. the basis for studying the activity of the senses, which before P. was built largely on the subjective method of research.

Deep penetration into the dynamics of cortical processes allowed P. to show that the basis of the phenomena of sleep and hypnosis is the process of internal inhibition, which widely radiated throughout the cerebral cortex and descended to the subcortical formations. Many years of studying the characteristics of the conditioned reflex activity of various animals allowed P. to classify the types of the nervous system. An important section of the research of P. and his students was the study of pathological. deviations in the activity of the higher nervous system, occurring both as a result of various operational effects on the cerebral hemispheres, and as a result functional changes, so-called breakdowns, conflicts leading to the development of “experimental neuroses”. Based on the study of experimentally reproducible neurotic. states II. outlined new ways of their treatment, gave physiological. rationale for therapeutic effects of bromine and caffeine.

IN recent years During his life, P.'s attention was drawn to the study of higher nervous activity in humans. Studying the qualitative differences in the higher nervous activity of humans in comparison with animals, he put forward the doctrine of two signal systems of reality: the first - common to humans and animals, and the second - characteristic only of humans. The second signaling system, being inextricably linked with the first, ensures the formation of words in a person - “pronounced, audible and visible”. The word is a signal of signals for a person and allows for distraction and the formation of concepts. With the help of the second signaling system, higher human abstract thinking is carried out. The totality of the studies carried out allowed P. to come to the conclusion that the cerebral cortex in higher animals and humans is “the manager and distributor of all the activities of the body,” “keeps under its jurisdiction all phenomena occurring in the body,” and thus provides the most subtle and perfect balancing of a living organism in the external environment.

In the works “Twenty years of experience in the objective study of higher nervous activity (behavior) of animals. Conditioned reflexes” (1923) and “Lectures on the work of the cerebral hemispheres” (1927), P. summed up the results of many years of research and gave a complete systematic. presentation of the doctrine of higher nervous activity.

P.'s teaching fully confirms the fundamentals. dialectical positions materialism that matter is the source of sensations, that consciousness, thinking is a product of matter that has reached a high level of perfection in its development, namely a product of the brain. P. was the first to clearly show that all life processes of animals and humans are inextricably linked and interdependent, in movement and development, that they are subject to strict objective laws. P. constantly emphasized the need to know these laws in order to learn how to manage them.

P.’s tireless and passionate activity and his irreconcilable struggle against idealism and metaphysics are associated with an unshakable faith in the powers of science and practice. P.'s teaching on higher nervous activity is highly theoretical. and practical meaning. It expands the natural scientific basis of dialectic. materialism, confirms the correctness of the provisions of Lenin's theory of reflection and serves as a sharp weapon in ideological. the fight against any and all manifestations of idealism.

P. was a great son of his people. Love for the fatherland, pride for his homeland permeated all his thoughts and actions. “No matter what I do,” he wrote, “I constantly think that I am serving as much as my strength allows me, first of all, my fatherland, our Russian science. And this is both the strongest motivation and deep satisfaction” (Complete collection, vol. 1, 2nd ed., 1951, p. 12). Celebrating caring Soviet government about encouraging scientific research, P. at the government reception of the delegation of the 15th International Congress of Physiologists in Moscow in 1935 said “... we, the heads of scientific institutions, are directly in anxiety and worry about whether we will be able to justify all those funds that the government provides us." P. also spoke about a high sense of responsibility to the Motherland in his famous letter to young people, written by him shortly before his death (see Complete collection of works, 2nd ed., vol. 1, 1951, pp. 22-23).

Numerous students and followers of P. successfully develop his teaching. At the joint session of the USSR Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Medicine. Sciences of the USSR (1950), dedicated to the problem of physiological. P.'s teachings, further ways of developing this teaching were outlined.

P.'s name was assigned to a number of scientific institutions and educational institutions(Institute of Physiology of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1st Leningrad Medical Institute, Ryazan Medical Institute, etc.). The USSR Academy of Sciences established: in 1934 - the Pavlov Prize, awarded for the best scientific work in the field of physiology, and in 1949 - gold medal named after him, for a set of works on the development of the teachings of P.

Op.: Complete collection works, vol. 1-6, 2nd ed., M., 1951-52; Selected works, ed. E. A. Asratyan, M., 1951.

Lit.: Ukhtomsky A. A., The Great Physiologist [Obituary], “Nature”, 1936, No. 3; Bykov K. M., I. P. Pavlov - the elder of physiologists of the world, L., 1948; his, Life and work of Ivan Petrovich Pavlov. Report... M.-L., 1949; Asratyan E. A., I. P. Pavlov. Life and scientific creativity, M.-L., 1949; Ivan Petrovich Pavlov. , Intro. article by E. Sh. Airapetyants and K. M. Bykov, M.-L., 1949 (Academic Sciences of the USSR. Materials for the biobibliography of scientists of the USSR. Series of biological sciences. Physiology, issue 3); Babsky E. B., I. P. Pavlov. 1849-1936; M., 1949; Biryukov D. A., Ivan Petrovich Pavlov. Life and activity, M., 1949; Anokhin P.K., Ivan Petrovich Pavlov. Life, activities and scientific school, M.-L., 1949; Koshtoyants Kh. S., A story about the work of I. P. Pavlov in the field of physiology of digestion, 4th ed., M.-L., 1950; Bibliography of the works of I. P. Pavlov and literature about him, ed. E. Sh. Airapetyantsa, M.-L., 1954.

P A Vlov, Ivan Petrovich

Genus. 1849, d. 1936. Innovative physiologist, creator of the materialist doctrine of higher nervous activity. Author of the conditioned reflex method. He was the first to establish and prove the connection between mental activity and physiological processes in the cerebral cortex. He made an invaluable contribution to the development of physiology, medicine, psychology and pedagogy. Author of fundamental classical works on the physiology of blood circulation and digestion. He introduced a chronic experiment into research practice, thereby making it possible to study the activity of a practically healthy organism. Nobel Prize winner (1904). Since 1907 full member St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1917), academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1925).


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See what “Pavlov, Ivan Petrovich” is in other dictionaries:

    Soviet physiologist, creator of the materialistic doctrine of higher nervous activity and modern ideas about the digestive process; founder of the largest Soviet physiological school;... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

An outstanding doctor, physiologist and scientist who laid the foundation for the development of higher nervous activity as an independent branch of science. Over the years of his life, he became the author of many scientific articles, and achieved universal recognition, becoming a Nobel Prize laureate in the field of medicine, but the most important achievement in his entire life, of course, can be considered the discovery of the conditioned reflex, as well as several theories of the functioning of the human cerebral cortex , based on many years of clinical trials.

With his scientific research, Ivan Petrovich was many years ahead of the development of medicine, and achieved amazing results that made it possible to significantly expand people's knowledge about the work of the whole organism and, in particular, all the processes occurring in the cerebral cortex. Pavlov came seriously closer to understanding the meaning and immediate necessity of sleep as a physiological process, understood the structure and influence of individual parts of the brain on certain types of activity, and took many more important steps in understanding the work of all internal systems humans and animals. Of course, some of Pavlov’s works were subsequently adjusted and corrected in accordance with the receipt of new data, and even the concept of a conditioned reflex is now used in a much narrower meaning than at the time of its discovery, but Ivan Petrovich’s contribution to physiology simply cannot be ignored by dignity.

Training and start of research

Dr. Pavlov became keenly interested in the processes occurring in the human brain directly and reflexes in 1869, while studying at the Ryazan Theological Seminary, after reading Professor Sechenov’s book “Reflexes of the Brain.” It was thanks to her that he dropped out of law school and began studying animal physiology at St. Petersburg University under the guidance of Professor Zion, who taught the young and promising student his professional surgical technique, which was legendary at that time. Then Pavlov’s career quickly took off. During his studies, he worked in the physiological laboratory of Ustimovich, and then received the position of head of his own physiological laboratory at the Botkin clinic.

During this period, he actively began to engage in his research, and one of the most important goals for Ivan Petrovich was the creation of a fistula - a special opening in the stomach. He devoted more than 10 years of his life to this, because this operation is very difficult due to gastric juice that eats away the walls. However, in the end, Pavlov was able to achieve positive results, and soon he could carry out a similar operation on any animal. In parallel with this, Pavlov defended his dissertation “On the centrifugal nerves of the heart,” and also studied abroad in Leipzeg, working together with outstanding physiologists of that time. A little later, he was also awarded the title of member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.

The concept of a conditioned reflex and animal experiments

Around the same time, he achieved success in his main specialized research, and formed the concept of a conditioned reflex. In his experiments, he achieved the production of gastric juice in dogs under the influence of certain conditioned stimuli, such as a flashing light or a certain sound signal. To study the effects of acquired reflexes, he equipped a laboratory completely isolated from external influences, in which he could fully regulate all types of stimuli. Through a simple operation, he removed the dog's salivary gland outside its body, and thus measured the amount of saliva secreted during the demonstration of certain conditioned or absolute stimuli.

Also, in the course of his research, he formed the concept of weak and strong impulses that can be shifted in the necessary direction in order, for example, to achieve the release of gastric juice even without direct feeding or demonstration of food. He also introduced the concept of the trace reflex, which actively manifests itself in children aged two years and older, and significantly contributes to the development of brain activity and the acquisition of various habits in the first stages of human and animal life.

Pavlov presented the results of his many years of research in his report in 1093 in Madrid, for which a year later he received worldwide recognition and Nobel Prize in the field of biology. However, he did not stop his research, and over the next 35 years he was engaged in various studies, almost completely remaking scientists’ ideas about the functioning of the brain and reflex processes.

He actively collaborated with foreign colleagues, regularly conducted various international seminars, willingly shared the results of his work with colleagues, and over the last fifteen years of his life he actively trained young specialists, many of whom became his direct followers and were able to penetrate even deeper into the mysteries human brain and behavioral characteristics.

Consequences of Dr. Pavlov's activities

It is worth noting that Ivan Petrovich Pavlov until the very last day conducted various studies in his life, and largely thanks to this outstanding scientist in all respects, in our time medicine is at exactly this point. high level. His work helped to understand not only the peculiarities of brain activity, but also in terms of general principles physiology, and it was Pavlov’s followers who, on the basis of his works, discovered the patterns of hereditary transmission of certain diseases. It is especially worth noting the contribution he made to veterinary medicine, and in particular to animal surgery, which reached a fundamentally new level during his lifetime.

Ivan Petrovich left a huge mark on world science, and was remembered by his contemporaries as an outstanding personality, ready to sacrifice his own benefits and conveniences for the sake of science. This great man He stopped at nothing and was able to achieve amazing results that no progressive scientific researcher has been able to achieve so far.