The brain as an instrument of the psyche in brief. Man, his brain and psyche

The relationship between the psyche and the brain

The first appearance in science of the assumption that mental phenomena are somehow related to the functioning of the brain is associated with the name ancient Greek philosopher Alcmaeon of Croton (IV century BC). Many other ancient scientists, such as Hippocrates, supported this idea. Subsequently, there was a gradual accumulation of data confirming that the psyche and brain are closely connected. In other words, what is mental (the human soul) “nests” in the brain.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, two scientific disciplines involved in the study of brain function finally emerged:

Physiology of higher nervous activity,

Psychophysiology.

The first discipline studies organic processes occurring in the brain and causing various bodily reactions. Psychophysiology explores to a greater extent the anatomical and physiological foundations of the psyche.

At first, the reflex approach dominated in physiology. Pavlov, Bekhterev and other domestic and foreign scientists showed that the behavior of humans and animals consists of complex conditioned reflexes formed during the learning process. Later, however, it turned out that the conditioned reflex is a very simple physiological phenomenon, and nothing more. However, studying unconditioned reflexes and conditioned reflex learning made it possible to open the way to new research - this is how the concepts of imprinting, operant conditioning, vicarious learning, etc. came into use.

Bernstein showed that in humans, unlike lower animals, any movement, even simple ones, is accomplished with the help of the psyche. Information processing and movement regulation occur in the brain. Formation of any motor act, at the same time, there is an active psychomotor reaction. Active means that the source of the reaction is not only outside (in the environment), but also inside the person himself. For example, if you throw a ball towards an observer, he may or may not catch it. In some cases, he won’t even pay attention to the ball at all. This is due to the difference in settings.

A person cannot exist in isolation from the surrounding world. He is constantly affected various factors external environment. Impact external factors was called by Anokhin situational afferentation. Some impacts are insignificant or even unconscious. Others provoke a response. The response is indicative in nature and is a stimulus for activity.

Our brain and psyche are designed in such a way that we perceive objects and environmental phenomena exclusively in the form of images. For comparison, in order to obtain a certain word, a computer program only needs to process a few bytes (several tens of bits) of information. In order for a person to get the same word, it will be necessary to process huge streams of data. To the person himself, this process seems very simple - but not for the neurons of his brain.

The resulting image is correlated with those images that are already stored in memory, and is compared with motivational attitudes at a given point in time. Usually in this comparison with the settings it takes Active participation consciousness is the highest mental process that integrates all others. Processing of images can result in some kind of response (after seeing, for example, a predator, we can jump into a tree), into some decision and plan of action (after seeing an advertisement for a sale, we can make a plan when we go to it), or simply be stored in memory as new knowledge about the world around us.

If the planned action is quite simple, then its expected result is presented in the central nervous system in the form of a kind of nervous model - an acceptor of the result of the action (according to Anokhin). This acceptor of the result of an action is the goal of this action. In the presence of an action acceptor and an action program formulated by consciousness, direct execution begins. The will is included, as well as the process of obtaining information about the fulfillment of the goal. Information about the results of an action has the nature of feedback (reverse afferentation) and is aimed at forming an attitude towards the action being performed.

Takes an active part in the process of performing the action emotional sphere person. Depending on how important the result is for a person, what his structure of moral values is, what instinctive needs are activated in him at the moment, the current activity causes certain emotional reactions. The interesting thing here is that it is not always possible for a person to clearly reflect on why he was happy at one time or another, why he was upset or interested. Negative emotions may lead to termination of the action or correction of the goal.

In psychology there is also a specialized branch that studies the relationship between the psyche and the brain - neuropsychology. One of its founders, Luria, proposed to identify anatomically relatively autonomous brain blocks that ensure the functioning of mental phenomena. The first block is designed to maintain a certain level of activity. This includes:

reticular formation,

Deep parts of the midbrain,

Structures of the limbic system,

Mediobasal regions of the cortex of the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain.

The second block is responsible for cognitive mental processes and is intended for receiving, processing and storing information. This includes areas of the cerebral cortex, which are mainly located in the posterior and temporal parts of the cerebral hemispheres. The third block is responsible for thinking functions, behavioral regulation and self-control. The structures included in this block are located in the anterior parts of the cerebral cortex.

The brain is a very complex, intricate system. And it is not at all by chance that this is so. This or that part of the brain is, to one degree or another, tied to the performance of specific functions. And it is connected with those areas with which it is necessary to exchange information. Studies of the localization of functions are carried out, for example, by studying the nature of brain lesions. For example, disruption of the occipital parts of the cerebral cortex leads to vision damage, and the temporal lobes of the cerebral hemispheres lead to speech impairment.

However, it is not always possible to accurately recognize the nature of the function being performed. In neuropsychology, facts have been obtained indicating that various disorders of mental processes are often associated with damage to the same brain structures. It may also be the other way around: damage to the same areas in certain cases can lead to different disorders. In general, the work of the brain and psyche is still far from being studied by science. There is no holistic vision of the psychophysiological structure, and therefore there is no accurate understanding individual functions separate areas.

The material substrate for the course of mental processes is the nervous system. It should be noted here that the formation of mental images is influenced by many factors - the whole organism, the physical environment, social conditions. However, mental images themselves are a consequence of the activity of the nervous system, an ideal creation of a material substrate that has a reverse effect on the nervous system, and through it on the body. In turn, interacting with the environment, the organism changes it.

Special role The brain, which is a cluster of nerve cell bodies connected to each other by special processes - axons and dendrites, plays a role in the construction of mental images. The most important feature of nerve cells is their ability to conduct nerve impulses, in which information coming from the body and the external environment is encoded, as well as the ability to retain traces of these influences.

The idea of a connection between mental phenomena and brain activity was expressed a long time ago, back in ancient times. Thus, Alcmaeon from Crotona (VI century BC) as a result of observations and surgical operations came to the conclusion that the brain is an organ of the soul. He discovered that from the cerebral hemispheres “two narrow paths go to the eye sockets.” He argued that the brain gives us the sensations of hearing, vision and smell, from the latter arise memory and idea (opinion), and from memory and ideas that have reached unshakable strength, knowledge is born, which is such because of this strength” (Yaroshevsky M. G. ., 1985).

Not always, however, mental life associated with brain activity. In particular, the great ancient philosopher Aristotle, who lived much later than Alcmaeon, believed that the brain is an apparatus that cools and regulates the heat of the blood. Hippocrates considered the brain as an organ of the psyche, but considered it a gland. The Roman physician Galen (2nd century AD) associated rational, rational activity with the brain, but localized other mental phenomena in other organs: emotions in the heart, and desires (in modern terminology, motivation) in the liver.

With the accumulation of information about the structure of the body and the functions of individual organs, the conviction grew stronger that it was the brain that was responsible for mental phenomena. Gradually, the problem of localization in the body turned into a problem of localization in an organ (in the Middle Ages, mental life was associated with the ventricles of the brain), and then, together with the process of differentiation of mental phenomena, into the problem of localization of individual psychic phenomena in parts of the brain. At the end of the 18th century. Austrian doctor and anatomist F. Gall, who first described gray and white matter brain, also for the first time tried to place all the “mental powers” and qualities of a person in the cerebral cortex. From this time on, it was the bark that began to be considered as a substrate mental activity. Gall's reasoning, however, was too straightforward: having compiled a list of 27 main “abilities,” he associated each of them with a specific area of the cortex. He further reasoned: if a person has developed this ability, then the corresponding section of the cortex is correspondingly developed, which, by exerting pressure on the area of the skull located above it, leads to the formation of “bumps” and “bumps” of abilities in this place. Having compiled a map of human abilities, Gall received, as it seemed to him, a tool for diagnosing them. Gall's doctrine of the localization of "abilities" - phrenology - gained wide popularity, capturing the minds of his contemporaries for decades.

Only after about a hundred and fifty years did it become clearly clear what Gall's mistake was. He considered mental formations as individual abilities, in the formation of which a huge number of more specific mental functions take part, which, in turn, are formed with the participation of even simpler mental operations. Some of the “abilities” he listed, for example speech, arithmetic counting, are currently considered as higher mental functions of a person, the implementation of which is possible when performing many private operations. These particular operations are localized in certain areas of the cortex. They (for example, distinguishing phonemes) can be an integral part of various integral mental acts, forming at the time of their commission functional system corresponding to higher mental function more high order, for example a letter.

In order to show the connection between elementary and higher mental functions, we will briefly describe the process of writing, its individual functional components and their localization in the cerebral cortex according to modern data.

1. To write a word, you must first pronounce it, and to do this, divide it into phonemes (individual sounds). The process of phoneme discrimination is localized in the left temporal region bark. Damage to this zone leads to severe disorders Europeans have writing, but, say, the Chinese do not, since the hieroglyph is associated not with a separate phoneme, but with an entire concept.

2. In the process of writing a word in hidden form Articulation itself (pronunciation) is also involved, the control of which is localized in the lower parts of the motor cortex. If they are defeated, a person cannot form the word correctly (instead of robe - hadat, table - slot).

3. Next, in order to depict a letter, you need to imagine it, etc. “recode” the phoneme into a grapheme, which is done in the occipital and parieto-occipital regions of the cortex, when damaged, a person cannot find the desired letter (optical agraphia).

4. Writing a word also requires ensuring the smoothness of the finest movements and placing letters in a certain sequence, for which they are responsible lower sections premotor zone.

5. And finally, writing a word or letter is rarely an end in itself; usually with their help we write down our thoughts, Therefore, writing is a type of speech, which in turn means that the factor that directs writing and maintains its control throughout the entire act of writing is design or intention. The design and control of any purposeful activity are associated with the highly complex activity of the frontal cortex. One patient with damage to the frontal regions in her letter to the outstanding neurosurgeon N.N. Burdenko wrote: “Dear professor, I want to tell you that I want to tell you, that I want to tell you...”, etc. on four sheets of writing paper (Luria A.R., 1970). So, to carry out some purposeful activity, different departments the brain responsible for performing basic mental functions are united during its execution. After its implementation, they can also participate in the activities of other functional systems.

Other “abilities” identified by F. Gall are the result of the activity of the entire brain as a whole, for example, “greed”, “cunning”, “theft”, “friendship”.

Thus, the brain is a very complex neuronal system, in the space of which nervous processes, flowing into a certain mode and composition, generating mental processes, which in turn have a regulatory effect on nervous processes and the activity of the entire organism as a whole.

It would be a gross mistake to associate mental processes only with the cerebral cortex. The psyche is the product of the activity of the entire nervous system. The formation of mental phenomena involves both the cortex, and clusters of nerve cells (the so-called nuclei) in the thickness of the cerebral hemispheres, and more ancient formations (the same hypothalamus), and the so-called brain stem, located in the skull, but representing a modified continuation of the spinal cord , and, finally, sensory (feeling) organs. Each of these departments contributes to the implementation of mental activity.

The idea of the functional organization of higher mental functions of a person makes it clear that: a) disruption of the same types of mental activity can occur with brain damage of different localization and b) the same local brain damage can lead to damage to a whole complex, it would seem, very diverse functions.

Outstanding Russian neuropsychologist (neuropsychology this is an area of psychology that studies the connections between mental phenomena and the corresponding areas of the brain) A.R. Luria identified the three largest parts of the brain, which he called blocks, which differ significantly from each other in their main functions in organizing holistic behavior.

The first block, which includes those areas that are most closely connected both morphologically and functionally with the ancient sections that control the state of the internal environment of the body, ensures the tone of all overlying sections of the brain, i.e. his activation. To simplify, we can say that this department is the main source from which the motivating forces of animals and humans draw energy for action. When it is damaged, a person does not experience disturbances in either visual or auditory perception, he still possesses all previously acquired knowledge, his movements and speech remain intact. The content of the main disorders in this case are precisely disturbances of mental tone: a person shows increased mental exhaustion, quickly falls asleep, attention fluctuates, the organized train of thoughts is disrupted, his emotional life- he becomes either overly anxious or extremely indifferent.

The second block includes the cerebral cortex, located posterior to the central gyrus, i.e. parietal, temporal and occipital regions. Damage to these sections, with preserved tone, attention and consciousness, manifests itself in a variety of disturbances of sensation and perception, the modality of which depends on specific areas of damage that are highly specific: in the parietal sections - cutaneous and kinesthetic sensitivity (the patient cannot recognize an object by touch, he does not feel mutual arrangement of body parts, i.e. the body diagram is disrupted, so the clarity of movements is lost); in the occipital regions - vision is impaired while touch and hearing are preserved; in the temporal lobes - hearing suffers while vision and touch are intact. Thus, when this block is damaged, the ability to build a full-fledged sensory image of the environment and one’s own body is impaired.

The third extensive zone of the cortex occupies a third of the total surface of the cortex in humans and is located anterior to the central gyrus. When it is damaged, specific disorders occur: while all forms of sensitivity and mental tone are preserved, the ability to organizations movements, actions and implementation of activities according to a predetermined program. With extensive damage, speech and conceptual thinking, which play a crucial role in the formation of these programs, are disrupted, and behavior loses its arbitrariness.

Thus, with certain reservations, we can say that the identified specific functions of the named parts of the brain correspond to the three main components of the psyche that we identified at the beginning, constituting integral mental activity when performing a separate adaptive act - activation (an impulse that is experienced in the form motive), image And action.

In addition to the listed functional differences between brain regions, one can also point out functional differences between the two hemispheres. The cerebral hemispheres are a paired organ, but unlike other paired organs in the body, they are not interchangeable. Each hemisphere performs its own functions in organizing mental activity. In the most general form we can say that in the left hemisphere the creation of a logically consistent picture of the world is carried out, which is the result of discrete, i.e. related to the use signs(words), analytical, in the form of sequential operations, processes. In the right hemisphere, a momentary “grasping” of perceived properties and connections occurs, i.e. with certain reservations - intuitive comprehension of the environment. In the left hemisphere the process of categorization and generalization occurs using signs, in the right hemisphere the formation and recognition of highly individualized images of objects, phenomena and situations occurs. Their joint work provides a comprehensive, logically ordered and at the same time holistic picture of the world.

Brain and consciousness. The question of the relationship between the brain and consciousness, due to its extreme complexity, cannot be considered in a small section. Here it will only be possible to sketch a general perspective containing this problem and the range of issues with which it comes into contact, in order to make more clear the place and role in the conscious activity of a person of the individual mental processes described below.

Everyone knows well what it means to consciously perceive, consciously remember, consciously do something and what it means to perceive, remember or do something unconsciously. A person, for example, can walk down the street, consciously thinking about some problem, and at the same time unconsciously, automatically, rearrange his legs, avoid obstacles, and even perform more complex actions, while in addition to his conscious intentions, some problems may automatically pop up in his memory. then events. True, if he wants, he can control some of these processes consciously. In this example, two levels of the problem of consciousness are clearly manifested. First, consciousness seems to be something like a stage on which personal experiences unfold, with what is in the center of this stage being “seen” better than what is on the periphery. Secondly, awareness of any phenomena is inseparable from the feeling of “I”, a certain self that is endowed with will, is the final authority that perceives, decides, remembers, does. Thus, the question of consciousness and its localization in the brain is closely related to the question of the existence and localization of that subject who, possessing the quality of arbitrariness, calls the phenomena he needs onto the psychic stage or observes on it things that appear there against his will.

If consciousness is considered as a scene illuminated with varying degrees of brightness, then the question of consciousness will turn into a question of the so-called “level of wakefulness.” Here we will get gradations of consciousness that are taken into account in medicine: from clear consciousness to coma. The level of wakefulness is regulated by precisely defined brain structures located in the brain stem, the main one of which is the so-called reticular formation.

Much more complex is the answer to the question of the origin of consciousness as a quality of the final authority - the subject and its localization in the brain. The answer to this largely depends on the initial philosophical position.

It is at this point of analysis that incorporeal substances appear that play the role of this subject - spirit, homunculus, consciousness as part of world consciousness - which mysteriously penetrate the brain, settle there, for example, in the pineal gland (R. Descartes), and from there, using perception, thinking and the rest of the mental economy, control the inner life of a person.

In dialectical-materialistically oriented philosophy and psychology, the question of the subject and consciousness is resolved on the basis of the principles listed above: systematicity, determinism and development.

Question about the subject human activity cannot be solved if one remains within the boundaries of the subject himself, just as one cannot solve the question of the nature of mental phenomena if one does not go beyond the boundaries of the organism and does not take into account its connections with the environment. Only by considering the development of the subject and his consciousness as a causally determined process of interaction between the individual’s psyche and his social environment, one can understand the essence of consciousness as semantic and systemic mental education (see the chapter on consciousness). If we take into account the semantic and system structure consciousness, then, as A.R. convincingly shows in his works. Luria, it will be necessary to admit that quality consciousness depends on the activity of the entire brain as a whole, but in particular it is associated with the activity of the frontal parts of the brain responsible for arbitrary planning and control activities, which is based on socially conditioned thinking, realized through speech. The “correlate of consciousness” (L.S. Vygotsky) is the word with its meaning and meaning, and the form of its existence is dialogue. The combination of a stage (or, according to A.N. Leontyev, sensory tissue) with a dialogue taking place on it (where the main character is the meaning of a word, a concept), within the framework of which orders and control over one’s own actions are carried out, reproduces the full quality of human consciousness.

Formulated by L.S. Vygotsky's position O semantic And systemic structure of consciousness, as well as the idea of its gradual and continuous development lies in the fact that it is communication carried out with the dominant role language, leads to the formation in the child speeches, which carries out a radical restructuring of the structure of all his mental processes. By mastering the speech of adults and on this basis forming his own speech, the child begins to analyze and systematize in a new way the impressions received during his interaction with the outside world. Categorization of objects and the naming of these categories, carried out on a speech basis, lead to the formation of speech-mediated perception, voluntary memory organized on a semantic, logical basis, voluntary attention, and qualitatively different forms of emotional experience. Based on speech, new complex forms of regulation of one’s own activity are formed. And finally, thanks to speech classification individual qualities people and evaluating their own behavior and experiences with their help, an idea of oneself is formed - self-consciousness (I-concept), the very subject who observes the events unfolding on the stage of consciousness and, to the best of his ability, controls them.

Evolutionary prerequisites of the human psyche. The human psyche differs from the psyche of animals in that all its processes are modified and organized by language. The ability to use language led to a qualitative leap in the process of evolution - the emergence of consciousness. On the other hand, there is nothing in the human psyche that cannot be found in one form or another in the psyche of animals.

By observing the behavior of an animal, you can see how its behavior is directed and intensified need, and also changes in

Briefly describe the structure of the central nervous system

The central nervous system consists of forebrain, midbrain, hindbrain and spinal cord. In these main sections of the central nervous system, the most important structures are distinguished that are directly related to mental processes, states and properties of a person: the thalamus, hypothalamus, pons, cerebellum and medulla. Almost all parts of the central nervous system are involved in processing information coming through external and internal receptors located on the periphery of the body and in the organs themselves. The central nervous system is connected to all organs and tissues of the body through nerves emerging from the brain and spinal cord. Nerve fibers entering the brain from the periphery are called afferent, and those that conduct impulses from the center to the periphery are called efferent. The central nervous system is a collection of nerve cells - neurons. Tree-like processes extending from the bodies of nerve cells are called dendrites. One of these processes is elongated and connects the bodies of some neurons with the bodies or dendrites of other neurons; it is called an axon. Some axons are covered with a special myelin sheath, which facilitates faster impulse transmission along the nerve. The places where nerve cells contact each other are called synapses. Through them, nerve impulses are transmitted from one cell to another. Other brain structures also take part in the work of the central nervous system: glial cells that serve the metabolism of the central nervous system, and capillaries that perform special metabolic functions circulatory system. psychology nervous brain reflex

What functional blocks of the brain are considered the main ones and what is their role in mental processes and states?

The brain is part of the nervous system. The right and left play a special role in the brain cerebral hemispheres, as well as their main lobes: frontal, parietal, occipital, temporal. In humans, the brain representation of the speech function is asymmetrical; it is localized in the left hemisphere (in those people for whom the leading function is right hand). With work frontal lobes The cerebral cortex correlates consciousness, thinking, programming of behavior and its volitional control (prefrontal and premotor zones). The left hemisphere in its work acts as the leader in the implementation of speech and other speech-related functions: reading, writing, counting, logical memory, verbal-logical, or abstract, thinking, voluntary speech regulation of other processes and states. Right hemisphere associated with the implementation of mental functions not mediated by speech, usually occurring on sensory level, in a visually effective way. The reticular formation plays a special role in the regulation of many mental processes. Also, the right hemisphere is characterized by a high speed of identification, its accuracy and clarity. The right hemisphere compares the image with some standard available in memory on the basis of identifying certain informative features in the perceived object. With the help of the left hemisphere, an analytical approach to image formation is carried out, associated with the sequential selection of its elements according to a specific program.

What is the essence of the teachings of I.N. Sechenova, I.P. Pavlova about the reflexive nature of the psyche?

The result of Sechenov's work was a new understanding of the psyche and the tasks of psychology as a science. His most important work on psychology, “Reflexes of the Brain,” which formulated reflex theory. According to Sechenov, the ability to perceive external influences in the form of ideas (visual, auditory) develops in experience according to the type of reflexes; the ability to analyze these specific impressions, memory, and all mental acts develop through reflex. The scheme of the mental process is the same as the scheme of the reflex: the mental process originates in an external influence, continues with central activity and ends with response activity - movement, action, speech. According to Sechenov, mental phenomena are included as required component into any behavioral act and themselves represent unique complex reflexes. The mental, Sechenov believed, is just as explainable through natural science as the physiological, because it has the same reflex nature. The reflex approach also involves studying the brain mechanisms of mental processes. The solution to this problem became the subject scientific activity I.P. Pavlova. The physiologist Pavlov first turned to mental phenomena in connection with his work on studying the activity of the digestive glands. It turned out that the work of the digestive glands can be determined not only by physiological factors, but also by the type of food, its smell, i.e. facts of a mental order. The explanation of these facts marked the beginning of the doctrine of conditioned reflexes. The biological meaning of conditioned reflexes was emphasized: they serve to balance the body with the external environment. Conditioned stimuli have a signaling value: they are signals from external stimuli of unconditioned reflexes.

How do forms of mental reflection appear and develop in animals?

Psyche - general concept, uniting many subjective phenomena. One of the hypotheses concerning the stages and levels of development of mental reflection, starting from the simplest animals and ending with humans, was proposed by A.N. Leontiev in the book “Problems of psychic development”. Later it was finalized and clarified by K.E. Fabry. The entire history of the development of the psyche and behavior of animals, according to this concept, is divided into a number of stages and levels. There are two stages of the elementary sensory psyche and the perceptual psyche. The first includes two levels: the lowest and the highest, and the second - three levels: the lowest, the highest and the highest. Each stage and its corresponding levels are characterized by a certain combination of motor activity and forms of mental reflection, and in the process of evolutionary development both interact with each other. Improving movements leads to improved adaptive activity of the body. This activity helps improve the nervous system, expand its capabilities, and creates conditions for the development of new types of activities and forms of reflection. An important sign The level of development of an animal, which determines its capabilities, is the development of the organs of movement, in particular the organs of manipulating objects for the purpose of studying them.

What are the main stages in the evolution of the human psyche?

Expedited mental development people were contributed by three main achievements of mankind: the invention of tools, the production of objects, material and spiritual culture and the emergence of language and speech. With the help of tools, man gained the opportunity to influence nature and understand it more deeply. The mechanism for transferring abilities, knowledge, skills and abilities by inheritance has changed. Now there was no need to change the genetic apparatus, anatomy and physiology of the body in order to rise to a new level of psychological and behavioral development. It was enough, having a brain flexible from birth, a suitable anatomical and physiological apparatus, to learn how to use the objects of material and spiritual culture created by previous generations in a human way. In tools of labor, in objects of human culture, people began to inherit their abilities and assimilate them to subsequent generations without changing the genotype, anatomy and physiology of the body. Man has gone beyond his biological limitations and discovered the path to almost limitless improvement. Especially outstanding achievements in improving the methods of recording, storing and reproducing information, which have occurred in recent decades, have led to a new scientific and technological revolution, which is actively continuing in our time. The word has become the main regulator of human actions, the bearer of moral and cultural values, the means and source of human civilization, his intellectual and moral improvement. Speech played a special role in the development of people as a means of communication. Its development contributed to the mutual intellectual and cultural enrichment of people living in different parts of the world and speaking different languages.

Psychology. Full course Ritterman Tatyana Petrovna

Brain and psyche

Back in the first millennium BC, it was noticed that mental phenomena are closely related to the functioning of the human brain.

However, the connection between the psyche and the brain was not always understood correctly. Representatives of “empirical psychology” believed that physiological and psychological processes in the brain occur in parallel, but independently of each other. At the same time, the psyche was considered as side effect, parallel to physiological, brain phenomena (as an epiphenomenon).

There were also erroneous opinions of a different kind. For example, K. Focht, L. Büchner and J. Moleschott, representatives of German vulgar materialism, mistakenly understood the connection between the psyche and the brain, identifying the mental and physiological: thought, in their opinion, is the same secretion of the brain as bile is of the liver.

I. M. Sechenov and I. P. Pavlov discovered principles and laws higher nervous activity, which became the natural scientific basis modern psychology, according to which the psyche is a product of the activity of the cerebral cortex.

At the beginning of the 20th century, sciences were formed aimed at studying the connections between mental phenomena and organic processes occurring in the human brain, such as physiology of higher nervous activity(studies the organic processes occurring in the brain, directly related to the control of bodily reactions and the body’s acquisition of new experiences) and psychophysiology(explores the anatomical and physiological foundations of the psyche).

A nerve cell with its periphery is a morphological unit of the nervous system - a neuron. The entire nervous system is divided into central and peripheral. central nervous system includes head and spinal cord, from which they diverge throughout the body nerve fibers, forming peripheral nervous system. The latter, in turn, connects the brain, sensory organs and executive organs (muscles and glands). All living organisms are capable of responding to physical and chemical changes in the environment.

Environmental stimuli(sound, light, touch, smell, etc.), interacting with special sensitive cells ( receptors), are converted to nerve impulses– a series of electrical and chemical changes in a nerve fiber.

The integration of external influences with the corresponding adaptive reaction of the body is the most important function nervous system.

In the cerebral hemispheres, nerve cells are located not only in central departments, but also on the periphery, in the form of the so-called cerebral cortex.

In general, the physiological mechanism for the formation of conscious and unconscious sensations appears as the every second impact of various stimuli on numerous intero- and exteroceptors, and only a small part of the stimuli causes reactions in them. Getting on specialized receptors and exciting them, stimuli cause the receptors to convert their energy into nerve impulses, which carry information about the vital parameters of the stimulus in the form of a certain code. The impulses then travel to the central nervous system and different levels spinal, diencephalon, midbrain and forebrain are gradually processed many times.

Processed, filtered and eliminated information in the cerebral cortex reaches the projection zones of the cortex and generates sensations of the corresponding modality. Association fibers connecting individual parts of the cerebral cortex help information presented at the level individual sensations, integrate into images.

Perception as a psychophysiological phenomenon leads to the formation of an image, which presupposes the coordinated activity of several analyzers at once. Depending on the activity, the amount of information processed and the significance of signs about the properties of the perceived object, visual, auditory and tactile perception are distinguished. Each of them is characterized by the dominance of one of the analyzers: visual, auditory, tactile (skin), muscle.

The cells of the cerebral cortex have a feature that is very important for the mental activity of the body. If other cells human body multiply and die throughout life, then the cells of the cerebral cortex stop multiplying in early childhood and begin to die only in old age. In case of loss (injury, surgery), these cells are not restored. However, unlike other cells in the human body, cells in the cerebral cortex are interchangeable.

The main structures of the brain are involved in cognitive and emotional-motivational processes.

There are various theories regarding the connectivity of parts of the brain and the functioning of the corresponding groups of mental phenomena. A. R. Luria identified three blocks of brain structures.

However, opponents of this theory introduced the concept of “ functional organ“, which is understood as an intravital system of temporary connections between individual parts of the brain that ensures the functioning of the corresponding property, process or state. The links of such a system are interchangeable, as a result of which the device functional organs May be different for different people.

At the same time, there are proven ideas about the connection between the left and right hemispheres in the perception and formation of a visual image. The right hemisphere of the brain is precise, clear and with high speed recognizes the image. This is an integral-synthetic, predominantly holistic, structural-semantic method of identification. The left hemisphere analyzes the image being formed, sequentially going through its elements according to a specific program. To perceive an image, both hemispheres of the brain need to work.

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1.Item general psychology. Problems of psychology. Methods of modern psychology. Characteristics of empirical methods of psychological science (observation, experiment, conversation, study of products of activity, method of questioning and testing).

Psychology studies mental processes, psychological personality traits and psychological characteristics of human activity.

Mental processes include sensations, perceptions, ideas, imagination, thinking, emotions, desires, memory, attention, etc. In their totality, mental processes make up the psyche, or human consciousness.

Consciousness always belongs to one or another individual person - an individual. It differs in characteristic features depending on the individual personality traits of this person. Thus, psychology includes in its subject not only mental processes, but also the psychological characteristics of a person’s personality - personality orientation, temperament, character, interests, abilities of a given person.

Both mental processes and psychological personality traits always manifest themselves in human activity. They can only be known through their expression in this activity.

The subject of psychology also necessarily includes the psychological characteristics of various types of human activity - work, learning, creativity in various fields of art, games, sports activities and

Modern scientific psychology considers consciousness, the psyche, as a property of highly organized matter - the brain, as a subjective reflection of the objective world.

Psychological science came to this only correct view of the nature of the psyche not immediately, but in the process of long development.

Throughout its existence, psychology has been the arena of a fierce struggle between two worldviews - materialistic and idealistic. To properly understand the subject of psychology, it is necessary to become familiar with the main stages of this struggle.

Tasks of psychology:

1. The study of psychological facts and their patterns (that is, an explanation of the facts, the disclosure of the laws to which these phenomena are subject), as well as the establishment of mechanisms of mental activity (that is, the establishment of order and interaction in the work of specific mental and psychophysiological structures that carry out a particular mental process ).

2. Psychology sets itself the task of establishing the basic laws of mental activity, tracing the paths of its development, revealing the underlying mechanisms and describing the changes that occur in this activity.

Methods of psychology - A set of methods and techniques for studying mental phenomena.

There are various classifications of psychology methods. One of the most popular is the classification of B. G. Ananyev. In accordance with it, 4 groups of psychological methods are distinguished.

Group 1 – Organizational methods – a group of psychological methods that determine general method organization of psychological research.

These include comparative, longitudinal and integrated methods. The comparative method of organizing the study is based on comparing data from different age samples. Longitudinal research involves long-term study of the phenomenon of interest. The integrated method involves interdisciplinary study of the subject.

Group 2 – Empirical methods – a group of psychological methods that allow one to obtain primary data about the phenomenon being studied. Therefore, these methods are also known as “primary information collection methods.” TO empirical methods include observation and experiment.

Group 3 – Data processing methods – imply quantitative (statistical) and qualitative analysis of primary data (differentiation of material into groups, comparison, comparison, etc.).

Group 4 – Interpretive methods – various techniques for explaining the patterns identified as a result of data processing and comparing them with previously established facts. There is a genetic method of interpretation (analysis of material in terms of development, highlighting individual phases, stages, critical moments, etc.) and a structural method (establishing a structural connection between all personality characteristics).

The main methods of obtaining psychological information are observation and experiment.

Observation is one of the main methods of collecting primary information, consisting in the systematic and purposeful perception and recording of mental phenomena in certain conditions.

Necessary conditions for using the method: a clear observation plan, recording the observation results, constructing a hypothesis that explains the observed phenomena, and testing the hypothesis in subsequent observations.

An experiment (from the Latin experimentum - test, experience) is one of the main methods of collecting primary information, characterized by the fact that the researcher systematically manipulates one or more variables (or factors) and records the accompanying changes in the manifestation of the phenomenon being studied.

A laboratory experiment is carried out under special conditions, the actions of the subject are determined by instructions, the subject knows that an experiment is being conducted, although he may not know the true meaning of the experiment until the end.

2. Brain and psyche. Modern research brain

Naturalists and doctors who studied human anatomy, even in ancient times, suggested a connection between mental phenomena and brain activity and considered mental illness as a result of disruption of its activity. Medieval scholasticism, in the name of the interests of religion, consigned these ideas to oblivion, and only starting from the Renaissance (XV-XVI centuries) they again received their development and justification.

A significant support for these views were observations of patients with certain brain lesions as a result of bruise, injury or disease. Such patients often experience severe disturbances in mental activity - vision, hearing, memory, thinking and speech suffer, voluntary movements etc. At the same time, when normal brain activity is restored, normal mental activity is restored. These observations clearly show that mental activity is directly related to the brain, that the brain is an organ of thinking, and thought is a function of the brain, a product of its activity.

The establishment of a connection between mental activity and brain activity was, however, only the first step towards the scientific study of the psyche. The above facts themselves, although of great importance, still do not explain what physiological mechanisms underlie mental activity. Due to the enormous complexity of the structure of the brain, natural science did not answer this question for a long time.

The first attempts in this direction were made in the 17th century by the French scientist and philosopher Descartes. He believed that all animal reactions, as well as all “involuntary” human reactions, are carried out automatically as a reflection of the action of external stimuli. This is, for example, the involuntary withdrawal of an arm or leg from the fire when burned.

Since in the era of Descartes nervous processes were still unknown, his ideas about physiological mechanism The automatic movements were quite fantastic. However, the basic principle of reflex reactions was described by Descartes correctly: external irritation (for example, a burn) acts on the sense organs, from where the excitation is transmitted to the brain, and from the brain to the muscles, causing them to contract. Thus, in Descartes' scheme the main functional unit of nervous activity was presented - the reflex as a natural response to external stimulation carried out by the central nervous system, and the reflex arc as the anatomical basis of the reflex.

I. P. Pavlov highly valued these ideas of Descartes and noted their materialistic nature.

However, Descartes did not extend these materialistic principles to man completely, but only to the area of “involuntary” movements, common to man and animals. The “voluntary” movements characteristic of man were attributed by him to the action of the “higher mind,” which he understood as a spiritual substance independent of matter. In resolving the issue of the relationship between “spirit and matter,” Descartes took the position of dualism.

The natural scientific development and substantiation of the reflective, reflex nature of all types of mental activity is the merit of Russian physiology, and above all its two great representatives - I. M. Sechenov (1829-1905) and J. P. Pavlov (1849-1936).

In his famous work “Reflexes of the Brain” (1863), Sechenov extended the reflex principle to all brain activity and thereby to all human mental activity. He showed that “all acts of conscious and unconscious life, according to the method of their origin, are reflexes.” This was the first attempt to embark on the far-reaching fruitful path of reflexive understanding of the psyche, which is of utmost importance for the development of scientific psychology. Pavlov wrote about this work of Sechenov as “a brilliant stroke of Russian scientific thought.”

Analyzing in detail the reflexes of the human brain, Sechenov identifies three main links in them: initial link- external irritation and its transformation by the senses into a process of nervous excitation transmitted to the brain; middle link - central processes in the brain (processes of excitation and inhibition) and the emergence on this basis of mental states (sensations, thoughts, feelings, etc.); the final link is external movements. At the same time, Sechenov emphasized that the middle link of the reflex with its mental element cannot be isolated from the other two links (external stimulation and response), which are its natural beginning and end. Therefore, all mental phenomena are an inseparable part of the entire reflex process.

Sechenov's position on the inextricable connection of all links of the reflex is of utmost importance for the scientific understanding of mental activity. Mental activity cannot be considered in isolation either from external influences or from external actions person. It cannot be only a subjective experience. If this were so, psychic phenomena would have no real vital significance, whereas in reality they, being inextricably linked with the middle link of the reflex and caused by external influences that lay the beginning of the reflex, everywhere have the role of a regulator of movement - this final link of the reflex.

Consistently analyzing mental phenomena, Sechenov showed that they are all included in a holistic reflex act, in a holistic response of the body to environmental influences, regulated by the human brain.

The reflex principle of mental activity allowed Sechenov to draw the most important conclusion for scientific psychology about the determinism, causality of all human actions and actions by external influences. “The primary reason for any action,” he wrote, “always lies in external sensory stimulation, because without it no thought is possible” *. At the same time, warning against a simplified understanding of the effect of external conditions, Sechenov repeatedly noted that not only cash matters here external influences, but also the entire totality of previous influences experienced by a person, his entire past experience, since “every mental movement, no matter how simple it may be, is the result of the entire previous and present development of a person.”

The reflex principle of brain activity received its highest development and deep experimental substantiation in the works of I. P. Pavlov and his school. Pavlov experimentally proved the correctness of Sechenov’s understanding of mental activity as a reflex activity of the brain, revealed its basic physiological laws and created a new field of science - the physiology of higher nervous activity, the doctrine of conditioned reflexes, temporary nervous connections of the body with the environment.

The formation of temporary connections is the most important function of the cerebral cortex. Pavlov characterized the temporal connection as “the most universal physiological phenomenon in the animal world and in ourselves.” At the same time, he also considered it a mental phenomenon, identifying it with what in psychology is called an association (or connection) of mental processes that arises as a result of the joint influence of objects and phenomena of reality on the brain. For any type of mental activity, such as brain activity, a temporary neural connection is the main physiological mechanism.

Since any temporary connection is formed as a result of the influence of certain stimuli on the brain, the bulk of which are stimuli acting from the outside, the beginning of any mental process is ultimately external influences on the brain. The final result of any mental processes, as well as any temporary connection, is an externally revealed action as a response to this external influence. Mental activity is, therefore, a reflective, reflexive activity of the brain, caused by the influence of objects and phenomena of reality and representing a reflection of them, an image of what affects the brain.

Any mental process cannot occur on its own, without the action of certain stimuli on the brain. It is always determined, causally determined by their effect on the brain. The principle of determinism, the causal conditioning of mental activity by stimuli affecting the brain (objects and phenomena of objective reality) is the most important principle reflexive understanding of the psyche. It is a necessary condition scientific explanation mental activity.

It is not difficult to see that all these provisions fully confirm the understanding of the psyche as a reflection of objective reality. The doctrine of higher nervous activity is the natural scientific foundation of the materialistic understanding of mental phenomena.

Based on the above strictly scientific principles, the creators of the reflex theory, Sechenov and Pavlov, always sharply criticized those psychologists and physiologists who separated mental activity from the reflex activity of the brain, and called their views remnants of dualism and animism. From this point of view, they criticized the entire old, subjectivist, idealistic psychology, which was unable to provide a correct, truly scientific understanding of mental phenomena.

Recognition of the most important significance of temporary nerve connections as a physiological mechanism of all mental activity does not mean, however, the identification of mental phenomena with physiological ones. Mental activity is characterized not only by its physiological mechanism, but also by its content, that is, by what exactly is reflected by the brain in reality. The content of the reflection of reality is determined by the fact that man is not only a natural, but also a social being. The essence of man is “the totality of all social relations” (Marx). A person lives in society, is in constant communication with others and acts together with them, is subject to continuous influence from society - and this cannot but determine all of his mental activity. The living conditions of a person, which play a decisive role in his development, are not only the external environment that surrounds him. This is, first of all, the entire system of social relations into which he enters with the people around him, with the society in which he lives.

There is no doubt that V people of different historical eras, social groups, different levels of social and cultural development of different professions, etc., have the same physiological mechanisms of mental activity. However, the content of what is reflected by people can be very different, and it is determined by the socio-historical conditions of their life and activities.

A person reflects reality in the process of activity, based on social needs and tasks, public views and relationships, which also regulate a person’s personal needs and relationships. “In people’s heads,” writes Engels, “everything that motivates them to activity is certainly reflected, but how it is reflected depends on the circumstances.”

Being, in its origin and functioning, a reflex activity of the brain, the highest nervous activity, the mental activity of a person in its content is a reflection of objective reality, conditioned by the circumstances of his life and activity and, above all, by the circumstances of the life of the society to which he belongs.