Reform of the school system as an anthropological problem--an example from the history education

The article is a longitudinal review of experimental research of high didactic systems effects in history teaching over the last 30 years. The aims of research are to evaluate: 1. position of adolescent, especially neurotic pupils in the teaching process; 2. possibilities to enhance the level of restructured matter (historical anthropology) in programmed and problem-solving teaching; 3. influence on the anxiety, attitudes and success of pupils with changes in the teaching process. Authors conclude, that the teaching process can influence the emotional state of the neurotic pupil. Higher didactic systems in a short time can influence the enhanced level of knowledge in relation to the traditional teaching systems. In the new systems, the attitudes of the pupils towards the teaching can change positively. Experiments carried out point to the possibility of changes of national identity and the necessity of an anthropological approach to reform the educational system.     

Ultraslow information control systems in the integration of life activity processes in the brain and body

The published data and the results of studies of the Department of Human Neurophysiology, revealing the place and importance of ultraslow information-control systems in the study of mechanisms for the integration of interorgan and intersystemic interactions, with the leading role of CNS and the autonomic nervous system, are summarized. The existing notions of the universality and commensurability of amplitude-time parameters, ultraslow bioelectric potentials (USBPs) recorded in the brain and the brain-controlled systems and organs have been considered. Experimental justifications for including one of the USBP types, a stable potential in the millivolt range in the vertex-tenar derivation (the omegametry method) in the psychophysiological approach are provided. This approach consists of choosing complementary integral psychological and physiological parameters permitting the study of the contingency of the mechanisms that control the functional state (wakefulness level) with specific features of the organization of higher mental functions and adaptive behavior, as well as in differentiating diagnostic markers: (a) the balance level and disintegration of intersystemic interaction in the body; and (b) disturbances of compensatory-adaptive possibilities and the adaptation reserve of the body. The prospects of using this approach in theoretical and applied studies on developmental psychophysiology, child psychoneurology, and functional neurology of chronic diseases of the nervous system have been considered.     

The open-field behavior of neuroticized rats]

A detailed study has been carried out of the behaviour in the open field of the lines of rats with different functional state of the nervous system after prolonged neurotization in dependence on the phase of circadian rhythm and terms after the end of the influence. Significant changes have been shown by the amplitude of circadian rhythms of emotionality and motor activity. It is established that the reaction of the rats lines to prolonged neuroticizing action depends on the phase of the circadian rhythm, the time after its termination and on genetically determined level of excitability of the nervous system.     

A study of the hygienic aspects of the pedagogic process

A knowledge of the laws governing changes in the functional state of the organism of pupils during lessons at school is one of the principal bases for solving the hygienic problems of organizing the teaching. The main concern is the dynamics of changes in the actual functional state of the CNS as a result of a whole complex of endogenous and exogenous factors as well as the school work of the pupil itself. Changes in the functional state of the optic and acoustic analysors deserve special attention in this respect because of their great exposure in pedagogical work. The existing interindividual differences in performance and in the work rate of pupils should be solved by an adequate pedagogical approach. Correct use of the principle of differentiated tuition can be a positive contribution to solving some of the topical problems of hygiene of the pedagogical process.     

Structural-functional and metabolic changes in the nervous system in low- and high-excitable rats deprived of paradoxical sleep

Studying of the influence of 24-hour deprivation of paradoxical sleep phase (PSPh) on rats with different genetically determined levels of excitability of the nervous system allowed to establish: 1) significant changes in functional state of the central part of the nervous system responsible for elaboration and preservation of defensive conditioned reflexes; 2) considerable lowering of functional state of the peripheral nervous system expressed both in a decrease of tibial nerve excitability thresholds and in changing of morpho-tinctorial characteristics of the studied nerve receptor parameters. The degree of the observed effects of PSPh deprivation is dependent on animal line belonging.     

The functional state classification and evaluation of the stability level in mental loads based on the factor structure of heart rate variability parameters

In the paper, outcomes of the researches devoted to factor analysis of heart rate variability parameters and definition of the most informative parameters for diagnostics of functional states and an evaluation of level of stability to mental loads, are presented. The factor structure of parameters, which unclude integral level of heart rate variability (1), balance between activity of vagus and brain cortical-limbic systems (2), integrated level of cardiovascular system functioning (3), is substantiated. Factor analysis outcomes have been used for construction of functional state classification, for their differential diagnostics, and for development and check of algorithm for evaluation of the stability level in mental loads.     

Effect of different motor skills training on motor control network in the frontal lobe and basal ganglia

During human motor control, the three pathways of motor control coordinate to complete human response and inhibition control, so whether different types of motor skills training will affect the three pathways of motor control is the main question in this study. Magnetic resonance imaging was combined with behavioural evaluation to analyse the effects of different special training sessions on the motor control network of the frontal lobe and basal ganglia and to explore the role of the central nervous system in the regulation of motor behaviour. A Stop-signal paradigm was used to measure reaction and inhibition capacity, functional magnetic resonance imaging was used for whole brain scanning, and resting state data were collected. Compared to the control group, the competitive aerobics athletes had better reflexes while the soccer players had both better reflexes and inhibitory control. Furthermore, we found that training in the two sets of skills resulted in significant differences in different resting state brain function parameters compared with the control group. Additionally, there were significant differences among the three groups in the direct and indirect pathways of motor control in terms of functional connectivity. Open skill training may improve reaction ability while closed skill training improve both reaction and inhibition ability. These results suggest that the strength of the functional connectivity between the right inferior frontal gyrus and the left putamen may be a key to improving the inhibitory, and the left supplementary motor area- bilateral thalamic loop may play an inhibitory role in motor control.     

Constant brain potentials as neurophysiological markers of autoimmune process]

Neuroimmune interactions in systemic rheumatic diseases were studied. The state of the central nervous system was assessed from the parameters of constant brain potentials, and the state of the immune system, from a complex of immunobiochemical parameters. The highest multiple correlation coefficients were revealed between the immunobiochemical parameters and the parameters of the constant brain potential, which characterize linear and standard deviations of potentials in temporal zones from potentials at other points of recording. The results are discussed in terms of structural and functional integration of the immune and nervous systems.     

The differential sensitivity to a neurotigenic exposure of rat strains differing by the threshold of nervous system excitability]

The influence was studied of 15-days stressing on the appearance of stable neurosis-like state of rats lines, selected by the excitability of the nervous system. Unconditioned and conditioned components of behaviour were tested: pain sensitivity, behaviour in the open field, level of "anxiety", passive and active defensive avoidance. Differential reactivity was shown of the rats lines to prolonged stressing, depending on the genetically determined level of the nervous system functional state. Interlinear differences in dynamics of the development of neurosis-like state were established.     

Serotonin and motor activity

The activity of brain serotonergic neurons in both the pontine-mesencephalic and medullary groups is positively correlated with the level of behavioral arousal and/or the behavioral state. This, in turn, appears to be related to the level of tonic motor activity, especially as manifested in antigravity muscles and other muscle groups associated with gross motor activity. In addition, a subset of serotonergic neurons displaysa further increase in activity in association with repetitive, central pattern generator mediated responses. Accumulating evidence indicates that this relation to motor activity is related both to the co-activation of the sympathetic nervous system and to the modulation of afferent inputs.     

Psychophysiological condition of first-year students with different levels of physical activity

The psychophysiological condition of first-year students (males) going or not going in for sport in the course of training was investigated. Baevskii’s method was used to determine the level of stress of regulatory mechanisms. The functional level of the nervous system, the stability of neural responses, and the level of functional abilities of the developed functional system were evaluated using the variation chronoreflexometric method. It was established that an improvement in the mental capacity parameters (increased mental capacity, reduction in the number of errors, an increase in the level of functional abilities, and shortening of the latent period of visuomotor response) was accompanied by an increase of stress of the body regulatory systems, which was more marked in individuals with a low level of physical activity. This fact indicates that physical activity reduces the cost of the adaptation of the body to permanently changing environmental conditions. The optimal human adaptive systemic reactions are ensured by the dynamic interaction of the functional systems forming complex correlations in the somatic, autonomic, motor, and psychoemotional spheres of the body’s activity.     

Effect of apomorphine on the wakefulness--sleep cycle of the common frog Rana temporaria

This work considers effects of introduction into spinal lymphatic sac of dopamine agonist--apomorphine-(APO) at doses of 0.1, 1.0, 2.0 and 4.0 mg/kg body weight on the common frog wakefulness-sleep cycle (WSC). Usually the frog WSC is represented by wakefulness and three types of passive-protective behavior: by immobility states of the type of catalepsy, catatonia, and cataplexy that are characterized by high thresholds of arousal and by different (corresponding to the name) skeletal musculature tones. These immoboloty forms are considered as homologues of mammalian stress-reaction, hibernation, and sleep. Low apomorphine doses produced in WSC a marked decrease of portion of wakefulness and an increase of the immoboloty state of the catalepsy; high doses, on the contrary, initially promoted in CNS an increase of wakefulness and the state of catalepsy by demonstrating thereby its stressogenic action; after this, in WSC these increased the portion of the sleep-like immobility state of the catalepsy type that is considered as a functional homologue of sleep of homoiotherms. In spectra of electrograms of the flog telencephalon the representation of waves of the delta diapason rose. Taking into account that the states of catalepsy and cataplexy in frogs are under control of the anterior hypothalamus, it can be suggested that manifestations of cataplexy (sleep) in frog are due to the low level of dopaminergic activity, whereas manifestations of catalepsy (the homologue of stress reaction) are due to the high dopamine content in the anterioi hypothalamic structures. Comparative analysis of changes in WSC of amphibians and mammals in response to administration of dopamine and its agonists allows thinking that the role of the dopaminergic neurotransmitter system in regulation of the vertebrate WSC is unanimous: the low level of activity of this system facilitates development of sleep (catalepsy), whereas the high level provides reaction of arousal and is actively included in the system providing stress-reaction.     

Towards mechanistic models of plant organ growth

Modelling and simulation are increasingly used as tools in the study of plant growth and developmental processes. By formulating experimentally obtained knowledge as a system of interacting mathematical equations, it becomes feasible for biologists to gain a mechanistic understanding of the complex behaviour of biological systems. In this review, the modelling tools that are currently available and the progress that has been made to model plant development, based on experimental knowledge, are described. In terms of implementation, it is argued that, for the modelling of plant organ growth, the cellular level should form the cornerstone. It integrates the output of molecular regulatory networks to two processes, cell division and cell expansion, that drive growth and development of the organ. In turn, these cellular processes are controlled at the molecular level by hormone signalling. Therefore, combining a cellular modelling framework with regulatory modules for the regulation of cell division, expansion, and hormone signalling could form the basis of a functional organ growth simulation model. The current state of progress towards this aim is that the regulation of the cell cycle and hormone transport have been modelled extensively and these modules could be integrated. However, much less progress has been made on the modelling of cell expansion, which urgently needs to be addressed. A limitation of the current generation models is that they are largely qualitative. The possibilities to characterize existing and future models more quantitatively will be discussed. Together with experimental methods to measure crucial model parameters, these modelling techniques provide a basis to develop a Systems Biology approach to gain a fundamental insight into the relationship between gene function and whole organ behaviour.     

Effect of apomorphine on the wakefulness-sleep cycle of the common frog <Emphasis Type="Italic">Rana temporaria</Emphasis>

This work considers effects of introduction into spinal lymphatic sac of dopamine agonist-apomorphine (APO)-at doses of 0.1, 1.0, 2.0, and 4.0 mg/kg body weight on the common frog wakefulness-sleep cycle (WSC). Usually the frog WSC is represented by wakefulness and three types of passive-protective behavior: the immobility states of the type of catalepsy, catatonia, and cataplexy that are characterized by high thresholds of arousal and by different (corresponding to the name) skeletal muscle tones. These immobility forms are considered as homologues of mammalian stressreaction, hibernation, and sleep. Low apomorphine doses produced in WSC a marked decrease of portion of wakefulness and an increase of the immobility state of the catalepsy type; high doses, on the contrary, initially promoted in CNS an increase of wakefulness and the state of catalepsy by demonstrating thereby its stressogenic action; after this, in WSC there increased the portion of the sleep-like immobility state of the catalepsy type that is considered a functional homologue of sleep of homoiothermal animals. In spectra of electrograms of the frog telencephalon the representation of waves of the delta diapason rose. Taking into account that the states of catalepsy and cataplexy in frogs are under control of anterior hypothalamus, it can be suggested that manifestations of cataplexy (sleep) in frog are due to the low level of dopaminergic activity, whereas manifestations of catalepsy (the homologue of stress reaction) are due to the high dopamine content in the anterior hypothalamic structures. Comparative analysis of changes in WSC of amphibians and mammals in response to administration of dopamine and its agonists allows thinking that the role of the dopaminergic neurotransmitter system in regulation of the vertebrate WSC certainly consists in that the low level of activity of this system facilitates development of sleep (catalepsy), whereas the high level provides reaction of arousal and is actively included in the system providing stress-reaction.     

The dependence of the achievement of students on the individual typological properties of their nervous systems

A reliable correlation (r = 0.47) between cognitive ability and educational achievement has been determined in 195 students (men and women) aged 21-25. Progress in studies depends also on such individual-typological properties as "strength" of the excitation process (r = 0.46), work reliability (r = 0.49) and functional "mobility" of the nervous brain process (r = 0.38). On the whole, teaching efficiency is determined by a complex of psychophysiological state indices rather than by one of these indices.     

Human torpor: translating insights from nature into manned deep space expedition

During a long-duration manned spaceflight mission, such as flying to Mars and beyond, all crew members will spend a long period in an independent spacecraft with closed-loop bioregenerative life-support systems. Saving resources and reducing medical risks, particularly in mental heath, are key technology gaps hampering human expedition into deep space. In the 1960s, several scientists proposed that an induced state of suppressed metabolism in humans, which mimics ‘hibernation’, could be an ideal solution to cope with many issues during spaceflight. In recent years, with the introduction of specific methods, it is becoming more feasible to induce an artificial hibernation-like state (synthetic torpor) in non-hibernating species. Natural torpor is a fascinating, yet enigmatic, physiological process in which metabolic rate (MR), body core temperature (T_b) and behavioural activity are reduced to save energy during harsh seasonal conditions. It employs a complex central neural network to orchestrate a homeostatic state of hypometabolism, hypothermia and hypoactivity in response to environmental challenges. The anatomical and functional connections within the central nervous system (CNS) lie at the heart of controlling synthetic torpor. Although progress has been made, the precise mechanisms underlying the active regulation of the torpor–arousal transition, and their profound influence on neural function and behaviour, which are critical concerns for safe and reversible human torpor, remain poorly understood. In this review, we place particular emphasis on elaborating the central nervous mechanism orchestrating the torpor–arousal transition in both non-flying hibernating mammals and non-hibernating species, and aim to provide translational insights into long-duration manned spaceflight. In addition, identifying difficulties and challenges ahead will underscore important concerns in engineering synthetic torpor in humans. We believe that synthetic torpor may not be the only option for manned long-duration spaceflight, but it is the most achievable solution in the foreseeable future. Translating the available knowledge from natural torpor research will not only benefit manned spaceflight, but also many clinical settings attempting to manipulate energy metabolism and neurobehavioural functions.     

I. P. Pavlov and the development of neuroscience

Ivan Petrovitch Pavlov significantly changed and developed our knowledge of the brain functions and of the behaviour by his fundamental experimental and theoretical work on the physiology and pathophysiology of the higher nervous activity. He was one of the scientists who prepared the development of neuroscience in our century. During the Pavlovian Conference, 1950 in Moscow Stalin and the Communist Party tried to dogmatize his and his pupil's fundamental theories. But his pupils continued to develop Pavlovian ideas in open discussions with representatives of other schools in a very creative way, opening the doors for a system approach to understand the integrative functional systems of brain and behavior. Pavlov emphasized the high plasticity of the central nervous system. He investigated the complex functional systems within the brain and between the organism and its environment, and the designed models for pathology of the higher nervous activity. During his last years, Pavlov freed himself from the strong deterministic view and characterized the organism and its environment as a self-organizing system.     

Comprehensive Approach to Functional State Evaluation in Humans: Report I. Methodology of Diagnosis of the Functional State

By means of a complex of cost-effective, rapid, and, whenever possible, computerized screening procedures, a systematic two-week study period of the functional states of subjects in a small group of healthy adults was performed. The daily variations of 125 parameters and periodic changes in 51 parameters of somatic and mental health were investigated at increasing doses of an adaptive drug. In the initial state of the subjects, various deviations of the somatic parameters from the normal level were found, presumably of a nutritional origin. The adaptive drug was found to normalize the changed parameters of somatic health within a week due to a strain in the regulatory systems and a decline in the functional reserves of adaptation. At the end of the examination, excessive doses of the adaptive drug returned the majority of the somatic parameters to the initial levels. At the same time, the work capacity of the subjects decreased and the strain on the autonomic nervous system and the level of stress increased. Discomfort and fatigue developed, which restricted the abilities of the examined subjects to choose behavioral tactics.     

The simplest form of emotional-motor reaction in man

In the present paper, human startle reaction (SR) characteristics were estimated by the amplitude of eye-lid reflex and extent of monosynaptic H-reflexes increase. SR depended not only on the parameters of sound stimulation (strength, unexpectedness) but also on the subject's functional state (attention, emotional background). Differences are given of the SR parameters from the orienting reaction. It is supposed that SR is an independent form of emotional-motor reaction of an adaptive character.     

Changes in metabolism of the nervous system in exposure to ionizing radiation at supralethal doses

Some biochemical disorders in the animals' central nervous system mainly in brain have been analysed after the exposure to superlethal doses of ionizing radiation as well in a state of the so-called early transient incapacity. The metabolism of gamma-aminobutyric acid, ammonia, histamine, cyclic nucleotides, prostaglandins and other biologically active substances is compared. Their investigation as metabolic regulators and modulators for nerve tissue seems to be of particular importance for deciphering the molecular mechanisms of changes in the central nervous system functional state and for discovering the possibility of its maintaining at a given level of activity.