Psychophysiology is the science of the physiological foundations of behavior and mental activity. This article provides basic information about it. You will learn the history of its origin, the features of the methodology, its significance, as well as some other important information about this science.
Psychophysiology is a special section of psychology and physiology that studies the role of biological factors (these include the properties of the nervous system) in ensuring mental activity. Scientists distinguish differential psychophysiology, speech and thinking, sensations and perception, attention, emotions, voluntary actions. All of these areas of expertise are currently being actively developed.
The cause of psychophysiology
Today the question of the relationship between psychology and physiology is still open. It cannot be unequivocally said that the first is part of the second or the second is part of the first. However, there is no doubt that mental and physiological processes are parts of one psychophysical whole. Alsothere is no doubt that ideas about this whole, so necessary for practical purposes, cannot be obtained separately either by physiology or psychology. It is to meet the need for knowledge about a person as a whole, and not from purely corporate or organizational considerations, that a new branch of biology called psychophysiology has appeared. This science considers a very wide range of issues. The level of complexity of the problems she studies is much higher than that of psychology or physiology alone.
Interdisciplinarity of psychophysiology, probabilistic methodology
Psychophysiology is a field of knowledge that is interdisciplinary. It considers the organization of relations of probabilistic mental, physical and spiritual phenomena and essences of a person. Psychophysiology is a discipline that, for effective cognition, uses a set of principles, prerequisites, means and methods of cognition that allow scientists to investigate a specific object, which is a person. Thus, a probabilistic methodology is applied. It is necessary to say a few words about her.
Psychophysiology is a science that studies a person using a probabilistic methodology. The beginning of the latter was laid back in 1867 by the English physicist James Clerk Maxwell. Probabilistic methodology claims to be universal in science. Maxwell is the first scientist to apply her methods to characterize probabilistic physical reality. This researcher is considered the creator of statistical physics. Probabilistic methodology has one important advantagebefore deterministic (traditional). It gives much more complete knowledge about the object being examined.
Creation of psychophysiology
Officially, it took shape in the middle of the 19th century. Its recognized creator is A. R. Luria, an outstanding Russian scientist (pictured above). Having a dual education (psychological and neurological), he was able to combine the most important achievements of these disciplines into a single whole. The result of the work done was the combination of psychophysiology and neuropsychology.
For a long time it was believed that the soul is incorporeal. In other words, the brain has nothing to do with it. Later, scientists began to locate mental functions in the three ventricles of the brain. Moreover, each of the ventricles was considered a place of storage of the displayed impressions of the soul. It was believed that it is the abode of ideal images. The brain was considered as an organ from which vital energy, under the influence of the will, flows into parts of our body through special channels called nerves.
In the future, thanks to the works of various scientists, mainly domestic (I. M. Sechenov, I. P. Pavlov, P. Ya. Galperin, A. N. Leontiev, A. R. Luria, N. A Bernshtein, etc.), a fairly clear idea was drawn up of the importance of the central nervous system (central nervous system) for the human psyche.
Natural scientific method of I. M. Sechenov
I. M. Sechenov developed a special natural-scientific method. Its essence can be definedfollowing two principles:
- all kinds of mental phenomena are a product of the central nervous system, which means that they obey the laws by which other natural phenomena develop;
- it is necessary to adhere to the principle of historicism in the study of the psyche, that is, to go from the lowest forms of its activity to the highest, from simple to complex, from studying the psyche of an animal to studying its specificity in humans.
Sechenov, applying these principles, approached the creation of a materialistic theory of reflection.
Works of I. P. Pavlov and further research
In the works of I. P. Pavlov, a famous Russian physiologist, the reflex theory was further developed. This scientist was the first to use an objective method for studying the mental functions of the brain, which was a conditioned reflex. Taking it into service, Pavlov investigated the physiological mechanisms in a number of processes that form the basis of elementary mental reactions. The works of this scientist, as well as representatives of his school, opened a new horizon in the study of brain activity experimentally.
Later, electrophysiological studies, supplemented by the method of conditioned reflexes, helped to establish the fact that many mental processes are based on a certain functional organization in brain structures. For example, memory can be considered as a result of the process of circulation of excitations along the chains of neurons that are closed, with further fixation at the molecular level of certainchanges.
Emotions depend on how active certain centers located in the subcortical structures of the brain are. At present, many mental reactions are reproduced artificially. For this, the parts of the brain responsible for them are specially irritated. On the other hand, everything that deeply affects our psyche is reflected on the brain, as well as on the body as a whole. For example, depression or grief can cause psychosomatic (bodily) illnesses. Hypnosis can promote healing or cause somatic disorders. Witchcraft or breaking a "taboo" among primitive peoples can even kill a person.
Object of knowledge and subject of psychophysiology
General psychophysiology is the science of the life of a he althy person. The clinical one (more about it is described at the end of the article) studies sick people.
Man is known to be tripartite. Psychophysiology is a science that takes into account all levels of its organization. Man has the unity of the following three probabilistic entities:
- corporal (physical, carnal);
- spiritual (mental);
- spiritual.
Consequently, the subject of psychophysiology is the physical, mental and spiritual essence of a person in their interdependence and interconnection. This discipline, thanks to the success of studying the activity of neurons in the brain of animals, as well as in connection with the possibility of clinical examination of people, began to consider not only the physiological, but also the neural mechanisms of various mental states, processes and behavior. Modernpsychophysiology deals, among other things, with the study of neural networks and individual neurons. This is determined by the current trend towards the integration of various disciplines that study the functioning of the brain (neurochemistry, neurophysiology, neuropsychology, psychophysiology, molecular biology, etc.) into a single neuroscience.
Different branches of the discipline we are interested in have their own subject matter. Physiological psychophysiology, for example, explores the patterns of behavior and mental response, which depend on the state of the physiological parameters, on the speed of the reactions of the peripheral and central nervous systems, as well as the soma as a whole (at the systemic, tissue and cellular levels).
The meaning of discipline
The discipline we are interested in complements psychology, neurology, psychiatry, pedagogy and linguistics. Psychophysiology is a necessary link through which the human psyche is considered as a whole, including many complex forms of behavior that remained studied before its occurrence.
For example, if you know which stages of ontogenesis are most sensitive to certain pedagogical influences, you can influence the development of very important physiological and psychophysiological functions, such as memory, thinking, attention, perception, physical activity, mental and physical performance, etc. If you have an idea about the age characteristics of the child's body, you can best reveal its physical and mentalabilities, to work out justified, from the point of view of science, valeological and hygienic requirements for he alth-improving and educational work, to organize a daily regimen, physical activity and nutrition, corresponding to individual constitutional characteristics and age. In other words, pedagogical influences can be optimal and effective only when they take into account the age characteristics of the child and adolescent, the capabilities of his body.
Age-related physiology and psychophysiology
Age-related physiology is a science that studies the features of life and development of the organism during ontogenesis. It studies the functions of the body as a whole, organ systems and individual organs as they grow, the originality of these functions at different age stages.
Ontogeny is the central concept of such a discipline as age-related physiology. It was introduced back in 1866 by E. Haeckel. In our time, ontogenesis means the individual development of an organism throughout its life (from the moment of conception to death).
Age-related physiology and psychophysiology have taken shape relatively recently. The first stood out only in the second half of the last century. Embryology is a science that studies the features and patterns of the life of an organism at the stages of intrauterine development. Later stages, from maturity to old age, are considered by gerontology.
Aging physiology uses various research methods, among which- morphological characteristics of the body (its length, weight, waist and chest circumference, hip and shoulder girth, etc.). This discipline is one of the branches of developmental biology - a very broad field of knowledge.
Features of human ontogeny
The origin of man influenced the features of his ontogenesis. In the early stages, it has a certain similarity with the ontogeny characteristic of higher primates. However, the specificity of a person is that it is a social being. This left an imprint on his ontogeny. First of all, the period of childhood has increased. This is due to the fact that a person needs to learn the social program during training. In addition, the period of intrauterine development has increased. Puberty in humans occurs later than in higher primates. The periods of the growth spurt, as well as the transition to old age, are clearly distinguished in us, in contrast to these animals. Our total lifespan is longer than that of higher primates.
Age norm and pace of development
It is very important for both the teacher and the doctor to understand the level of development of the child with whom they are working. Age physiology and psychophysiology determine what is considered the norm and what is a deviation from it. Any significant deviation in development means the need to apply non-standard methods of treatment and education to a person. Therefore, one of the most important tasks of developmental psychology is to establish the parameters that determine the age norm.
It should be noted that the pace of development does not always correlate with its final level. The slowdown in this process is oftenleads to the achievement by a person (albeit later than his peers) of outstanding abilities. On the contrary, often accelerated development ends too soon. As a result, a person who initially showed great promise does not achieve high results in adulthood.
Strong deviations in the pace of development and growth are relatively rare. However, small variations that appear as moderate leads or lags are common. How should one treat them? Are these manifestations of deviations in development or its variability? Age physiology provides answers to these and other questions. It develops criteria to judge the degree of deviations from the norm and the need to take measures to eliminate or mitigate their consequences.
Clinical Psychophysiology
It is an important applied area of psychophysiology. This is an interdisciplinary field of knowledge that examines the physiological mechanisms of various changes in mental activity in somatic and mental pathology, as well as their influence on each other.
Clinical psychophysiology is a discipline that also involves the study of pathogenetic mechanisms, etiological factors, professional rehabilitation and treatment of psychosomatic diseases. It cannot do without the knowledge and methods of a number of related disciplines (neurochemistry, neurophysiology, experimental psychology, neuropsychology, neuroradiology, etc.). Through field surveys and laboratory experimentsone can find out how human behavior and experience affect regulatory processes and physiological responses. From this it is possible to deduce patterns of psychosomatic relationships.
As a rule, the measured psychophysiological values are non-invasively recorded on the surface of the human body (as a result of the activity of the body's functional systems). Sensors measure their physical properties. These sensors register and at the same time amplify the measured values, so that the obtained values can be converted into biosignals. Taking this method as a basis, researchers draw a conclusion about what somatic processes underlie this or that phenomenon, about their dynamics during the impact of psychotherapy.
So, psychophysiology is a science, the definition of which is presented at the beginning of the article. We talked about its subject, method, history of origin and development, as well as some important branches. Psychophysiology is a science that studies both the psyche and human physiology, so it has an interdisciplinary character.
