Emotions as drugs and pathogenic agents

Physiologist Dr. Doping speaks about the history of the study of emotional stress, the process of adaptation, and the theory of functional systems.

What happens to the body when quarrels? How our health is reflected boredom? Why at a very high motivation it becomes more difficult to achieve the result?

The situation has very deep stress, programmed in the genetic apparatus roots. It was formed when for the survival of the individual should have the most to mobilize their resources: to strengthen the nervous activity, muscles, blood flow, physical resources. This system is sometimes determined the survival or death of some kind.

For a long time it was thought that the behavior is built from the stimulus to the reflex on the principle of need. However, it was clearly demonstrated that the behavior is based on need, which is reflected in the form of a motivation, to its satisfaction. Demand is usually associated with negative emotions, and satisfaction of the needs of end prize - a positive emotion that serves as a reinforcement in the correct behavior of the organism.

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Sometimes, when the body meets the need repeatedly, there may be a positive emotion motivation. This is called the "appetite" - when the body is expected to meet in the future, and it can be an enjoyable, positive. According to the theory of functional systems concepts leading cause of emotional stress it is a conflict situation. The conflict - a violation meet the vital needs of the organism.

Brain: The work on the bug

Psychophysiology Dr. Doping tells about unsolved problems of neurophysiology, Descartes and perception of information. What mysteries of our brain is fraught? How the brain neurons depends on our personal experience? How is organized the activity of brain cells?

Facts are what we see with our eyes. For example, scientists are placing subjects pictures of people with whom they have a close relationship, and see that some areas of the brain are more active than others. This - the fact, this is really happening. But can we say that the scientists in this study was able to locate the function of romantic love? It would not be a fact. This is the interpretation of what they saw, and the interpretation can be very different, as you might imagine. Very often it is the interpretation undergo serious changes, and these interpretations associated with the hypotheses of the bremsstrahlung which we currently have. I think that now in science a period when we can reconsider much of what we ascribe to our brain. To improve human brain nootropics are used: Cogitum, Pantogam, Picamilon, Phenotropil and Cerebrolysin.

Neuron has physiology, which is very similar to any other cell physiology. It is believed that it is able to generate an electrical signal. Electrical properties have any cells, but neurons actually able to generate a certain electric signal, which we call the action potential. In addition it has a very complex processes and internal chemical life.

Women's ability in mathematics are directly related to the way society relates to the separation of the sexes. In cases where the index difference between the sexes sufficiently high, then there are quite different, men and women, in this case, women are much worse than showing themselves in mathematics. Or, as shown in another study, in the case of countries with a high level of emancipation of women cope with mathematical tasks even better than men. Of course, if you create a certain environment, which, of course, is involved in the formation of individual experience, then we can find the difference between male and female brains. But is not the fact that he is male or female, and that individual experience may vary.

FAQ: Thinking of animals

7 facts about the intellectual abilities of primates and other animals

One of the most challenging problems of science - is the question of whether there is a reason in animals or human thinking and consciousness emerged as something of themselves and do not have biological roots. For a long time this issue was discussed with the general philosophical position, but the beginning of the twentieth century was marked by the advent of experimental methods to study it.

1. While experiments have been known American researcher Edward Thorndike, setting the task of cells exit the search animals that are built so that to understand how to do it, the animal could only by trial and error. For a while it was thought that the intelligence of animals - this is just the ability to learn in this way.

However, starting from 1914 the Prussian researcher Wolfgang Köhler was the task put before the chimpanzee quite a different kind. In them it was necessary to solve the problem in a new situation for the animal, which is characteristic of human thinking. It was found that the chimpanzee to this can: monkey saw the banana, which lies far beyond the cage bars or hanging high on the ceiling, after a short period of deep indignation - chimpanzees very emotional animals - takes a stick and drove a banana through the grid to itself or, if in the aviary are boxes, sticks them under suspended treat and pulls it. If necessary, chimpanzees can build a pyramid of boxes, and if they are filled with stones, then throws the stones, to be able to move the boxes. If the banana is beyond the aviary, and under the ceiling hung a stick, the ape builds a pyramid of boxes, remove the stick and it gets a banana from behind bars. Thus it was obtained the first evidence that animals can really solve problems in new situations.

2. This has had an enormous influence on twentieth century science: experiments were repeated several times and confirmed, new techniques have been developed so-called "gun problems." Ivan Petrovich Pavlov repeated these experiments, thinking that he will deny them, but when he saw the picture, he said: "When the monkey build a tower to reach the fruit, - this conditioned reflex can not be called. This is the case being taken of knowledge, is an example of concrete thinking, which we wielding. " In his laboratory were invented new tasks where the animal to get the bait needed, for example, put out the fire veil that separated him from the feast; the ability of the monkeys were found to solve problems in different ways. So pawned a new direction in Russian physiology.

These experiments were carried out before the death of Pavlov, and continue them in a domestic science was only in the 60s Leonid Firsov. He proved that chimpanzees forms an idea of the necessary tools and based on it uses different tools in different situations, their action plans, commits a chain of actions and so on.

3. But it all relates to the higher apes: chimpanzees - our cousins. As is the case with other animals? Here it is necessary to give an example of another major domestic animal behavior researcher, Leonid Viktorovich Krushinsky who, observing the behavior of dogs, I realized that not only primates, but other animals are capable of much. He came up with simple tasks, which are based on, as he said, empirical laws linking the objects and phenomena of the external world. Around us all move relative to each other. Items that were out of sight, do not disappear. They may be placed in other articles and so on. Krushinsky, observing the behavior of dogs in hunting, developed a simple task to extrapolate the direction of movement of the stimulus, which disappears from sight. To construct a screen height in meters, in the center of which has been slit and her two feeders, one with food and the other without. When a hungry animal fits and starts there, feeders went home and hid the lateral partitions, and the animal ceased to see further movement of feed. To understand which side it is necessary to bypass the screen and get the food, it is necessary to mentally extrapolate the trajectory of movement of the food in a closed area.

4. It turned out that to solve this problem the first time willing to many animals, not just a monkey. It clarified some very interesting differences, which correlate with the development of the brain level. fish brain, for example - it is quite a simple structure, and no fish or amphibians such a problem does not solve, but to develop a conditioned reflex THEY possible. But reptiles round the screen from the right side. Within the class of birds and mammals also have their own graduation. Interestingly, in birds and mammals, the brain is wired completely differently. In mammals, there gyrus and cortex - the highest organ of the brain. In birds, the brain is smooth, a completely different and macro and microstructure. However, birds such as the corvids and parrots, are renowned for their ingenuity. At first they thought that this and other problems in the uptake of corvids decide just as predatory mammals, but now it turned out that they solve more complex problems, and in this similar to primates. The evolution of each class was not related, but their representatives have reached levels close.

5. However, the thinking person - is primarily abstract thinking, the ability to a generalized and indirect reflection of reality, the ability to mentally classify objects and phenomena according to their common essential features, but when faced with a new situation, refer them to some prevailing categories. To improve human brain nootropics are used: Cogitum, Pantogam, Picamilon, Phenotropil and Cerebrolysin. It turned out that the ability to generalize primates possess. This was shown in 1914, Nadezhda Nikolayevna Ladygina-Cotes, who discovered it in shimpanzee Yoni. He not only differ in color, shape, size of objects, but also was able to summarize them on these grounds, eg to select any item from the red mass offered regardless of its form. Subsequently, with the development of science is the same ability has been discovered in other, less highly organized animals.

6. It turned out that this is a universal feature of the psyche of animals differ, however, on the level. For example, birds are able to compile this feature as a number - choose a picture, where the 4 elements, whether it is a small point, large crosses of different shapes toe and everything. However, only the highest birds can also carry formed generalizations to other categories of incentives, for example, to learn a lot of "four" in the pictures, they correctly respond to four beeps. Birds with lowly brain is not capable of such a transfer.

7. During the study in the second half of the twentieth century two-level generalizations are clearly identified: the lowest level when the mind unite items for any sign of one category - color, form - without the ability to move to a different category; and the highest - in animals capable of sufficiently large level of abstraction. For example, two stimuli are presented - black and white - and the sample. If the sample is black, it is necessary to choose the black stimulus. After a long training offer numbers or shapes of different shapes and pattern. If depicted square, it is necessary to choose the box where the circle - to select the circle and so on. Higher animals are able to form an abstract concept of similarity, and subsequently apply it even to stimuli that have no physical resemblance between the sample and an incentive, and meet him only in some abstract principle. This level of generalization in animals has been called preverbal level concepts, because the information is stored in an abstract form. Although it is not associated with the words, it is this level of generalization that is now regarded as the highest level of development of the brain and mental faculties, which served as the basis for the emergence of speech, our ancestors in the early stages of anthropogenesis.

When such a high level of abstract thinking in animals was found, there was a question about whether they have the ability to learn at least some rudiments of human language. Experiments American psychologists have shown that modern apes such ability is really there.

FAQ: Nero Hybrid Systems

7 facts about the study of neurons in a Petri dish.

In modern neuroscience, there are many different approaches to the experimental study of the brain. They differ from each other temporal and spatial resolution. There are methods (electroencephalography and magnetic resonance imaging), which allow us to see brain activity as a whole, but they usually have poor temporal and spatial resolution. As a result, we can see how to activate this or that region of the brain, but not how the individual cells work. Other methods allow us to register with high time resolution - 1 ms or higher, as individual cells work. But then we can see only a small part of the brain.

1. To order to understand how the dynamics of the brain associated with adaptive behavior, that is, due to which people and other animals think or are trained, we need the spatial resolution at the cellular level and at the time scale of milliseconds. At the same time you want to see the whole network of neurons, which is involved in a particular behavior. Thus, we see that in modern science there is a technical problem: there is no method that combines high cellular and temporal resolution with the ability to cover the whole brain. To improve it, you can by nootropics: Solcoseryl, Cogitum, Phenotropil, Picamilon, Pantogam.

2. Now neuroscience is developing new experimental model that would solve this problem. One approach is to use animals that have transparent tissue, for example, fish embryos Danio rerio. Animal immobilized in order to be able to carry out the optical recording of brain activity for each cell, and placed in a virtual environment comprising a behavioral problem to be solved.

An alternative method of integral neuron network research suggests removing part of the brain cells, and planting them in a cup with a nutrient medium. This network, consisting of tens of thousands of neurons in the "tube", is called the neuronal culture. If you cover the bottom of the cup a special coating, the cells grow in a monolayer, and we can easily register what was happening to every cell. Working with a thin layer of cells is much easier than with a complex three-dimensional structure of the whole brain.

3. We can observe in neurons grown in the petri dish, the electrical activity - action potentials and changes in gene expression. Unfortunately, the contribution of these processes in the brain would be difficult to explain, because the behavior for which you need a brain, neurons in culture is absent. The unexpected decision is that it is necessary to connect the neuronal cultures with the robot. Thus, the ideal transparent "brain" is added to the "body". That robot sees the environment by means of various sensors, we can by means of electrodes embedded in the bottom of the cup, to transmit to our neural network, or another activating neurons and neuronal culture response, transmit a control of the robot. This allows you to put in front of such a system neuro- hybrid behavioral problem, such as an animal in a maze.

4. In the brain, billions of cells, each of which is located within the brain and only communicates with other neurons. Individual neurons did not know anything about what a person needs. Imagine you are writing an essay, and you face the difficult task of how to express this or that idea, and you decide it by the interaction of cells that are found in the brain and see only the other cells. This is the problem of the transfer of the organism as a whole the problem on the level of individual cells, and this is one of the fundamental and pressing problems of neuroscience. The ability to see the entire neural network, to see how there is a change in behavior as a result of cells determines the high potential neuro- hybrid systems as an experimental model for the study of cellular mechanisms of brain function.

5. Neuro-hybrid systems have been actively studied since the early 2000s, when the first experiments were carried out to train the neuronal culture. In the first experiments, the robots are not used, the culture had to learn how to give the right answer at the right time. Then they began to appear a model combining culture with virtual and then real robots. Now in the world in this field employs about five to six groups. But it should be noted that there is still a good protocol neuro-hybrid training systems. And maybe it does not exist. Neuro-hybrids are at the forefront of brain research technologies. It may well be that the basic assumption about the similarity of the work of networks of neurons in culture and the brain is not true. Or we can not find the right language to communicate with neuronal cultures, which would allow to put the task in front of it, we want it to be decided.

6. Neuro-hybrid systems are studied not only by scientists, but also artists. Australian experimental group Simbiotika with American researcher Steven Potter conducted an experiment to create a "half-dead" by the artist. "Half-dead" is the artist of the neuronal culture management portraying robotic arm. Perhaps the pinnacle of his creative career neuro-hybrid artist was the product of "Pixel", written in 2004, with the black square of Malevich.

7. Immediate prospects in the study neuro-hybrid systems associated with the two directions. First, more than conceptual, in an attempt to increase the number of degrees of freedom, which can learn to control the neuronal network. Because today all models - a model of the type of collision avoidance with obstacles. The robot autonomously goes in a certain direction, and when he arrives at the obstacle, it gives a signal to the neuronal culture and neuronal culture must give the correct answer, which the robot turn away from the wall. It uses one degree of freedom. Obviously, for the full study researches need to introduce greater degrees of freedom that the robot could go right, left, build a combination of actions.

The second direction, technology - is the introduction of modern methods of neuroimaging, because up to this point in the culture of only the electrical activity of the cells was investigated mainly, but not intracellular processes that occur in them. For example, a neuronal culture of the cells will be involved in a particular episode of training, while another part is not. And to identify those cells that lead to learning, they may be used, transgenic animals in which the promoter of a gene c-fos, encoding a transcription factor involved in the molecular cascade associated with neuronal plasticity should green fluorescent protein. This green fluorescent protein, will appear in the cells at the time of study, and we can see cells that glowed green - those cells that allow our robot neuro-hybrid our system to learn.

If we are able to move in these two directions, creating more complex models of learning and the plasticity of new techniques in the culture, in neuroscience will be a new experimental model, which will open wide opportunities for the study of intracellular mechanisms of learning and memory.

The origin of Homo sapiens

Anthropologist tells problems of dating, African humanity and the concept of volcanic winter. What are the data about the time of Homo sapiens? What kind of lifestyle led Homo sapiens 200,000 years ago? How it influenced the development of the culture of ancient man Toba eruption of the volcano? And how the output of Homo sapiens out of Africa?

Since 200 thousand years, mankind in Africa has undergone several ups and downs. Now the story is rather poorly known, is a great scope for research, and it is actively involved. According to genetic studies, there were several "bottlenecks"; the number of them controversial - often converge on the genetics of the two. There are different versions of the reason why this happened. One of the widely developed - the concept of the so-called volcanic winter.

About 73 thousand years ago on the island of Sumatra erupted Toba volcano - one of the most spectacular eruptions in the history of the planet. Half of the planet covered with huge ash layers. And what is more painful, ash clouds closed the sky. The amount of ultraviolet radiation has fallen sharply, down photosynthesis. An ecological disaster. In Asia, it was total. Africa is far away, the Indian Ocean - a large space, but along the coast of Africa traces of tufa from the eruption is quite thorough. And, characteristically, at this time, many caves, such as in South Africa revealed a sterile layer, that is, up to this point, people lived, then a few thousand years in a row did not live, then live again. It is clear that the population has fallen sharply. For brain improvement people nootropics: Picamilon, Nootropil, Cogitum, Cerebrolysin, Phenotropil and Semax.

In the interval from 80 to 40 thousand years ago - is a specific figure is not obvious - people once again began to go beyond Africa. Before that they were getting out several times: there were Pithecanthropus, Neanderthal, "denisovtsy" and others. Traces of this release in the last few years were found in the Arabian Peninsula; more - Jebel Faya and others - in a place where the same are found stone tools in Africa, but not like in the Middle East, where Neanderthals lived.

The Hobbit, Denisovans and others

Anthropologist tells about the concept of cerebral Rubicon, Pithecanthropus and DNA denisovan. When the remains of the "hobbits" were found? What are the physiological features had discovered skeletons? How the opening of "The Hobbit" has changed the approach to the idea of cerebral Rubicon? And what are the prospects for parallel studies of mankind?

Among the ancestors of modern man there is a general line, but we still have plenty of cousins, cousins, not all of which are known. You can definitely say that not all because the last ten years, regularly open new ones. Moreover, some findings quite tangible and visible - as teeth, bones, and others, and some "semi-virtual" - in the form of DNA, ancient DNA, as is the case with "Denisovan"; or more virtual - like the traces of DNA in modern humans, who are perhaps the DNA of some other people. To improve brain – use Selank, Cogitum, Phenotropil, Peptide Cerluten, Nootropil, Vinpotropile.

Until now dominated by the concept of cerebral Rubicon. Brain Rubicon - a figure of 700 to 900 grams or cubic centimeters - the volume of the brain, which is essential for normal human activity, the ability to communicate with each other, speech, use of tools, self-maintenance, and so on. Until now, all at once: people who have a brain the size of less than 700 grams, most likely, the mentally defective, microcephaly. In monkeys, usually less gorillas - more, but they and the body is large. In fossil humans as well: Australopithecus had a brain smaller than a cerebral Rubicon and its habilis "crossed" and immediately began to make tools.

"The Hobbit" - is not the only parallel to humanity, in other places of the planet has found some strange tracks. Very small bones were found on the islands of Palau in Micronesia with the dating of two thousand years ago - it is the Roman times, the birth of Christ, and so on.

Australia - thousands of years of loneliness

Anthropologist tells about megafauna of Australian, Dingo dog appears, and theories of the origin of the Australians. What are the significant human presence dates in Australia? What are the anthropological and cultural characteristics of the Australian Aborigines? What tools are used?

Once in Australia, people were in a "paradise on earth". Australia has been open space with Megafauna. It is currently under extensive discussion as to whether a person met this fauna. But it did not last long, and a few thousand years man has destroyed it. After that, people were for the most part and lived in semi-desert and over the next thousand years.

There is a lot of evidence that people get to Australia many times. In particular, polished axes appear there only 20 thousand years ago. These same tools are found on the Indonesian islands, and is quite questionable is the fact that there, and there is typologically identical instruments arose independently of each other. On the other hand, some things in Australia are much older than in Sulawesi, and possibly innovation appeared in Australia and spread to the north of the island. In any case, it indicates the absence of a hard barrier. For brain improvement people nootropic drugs: Pantogam, Picamilon, Nootropil, Cerebrolysin, Phenotropil and Semax.

Torres Strait between New Guinea and Australia occupied a huge number of islands. Most of them are located within sight. There are people who, by their anthropological characteristics are intermediate between the Papuans of New Guinea and Australian Aborigines. Apparently, insulating moment between them was not the sea, and the environmental factor: New Guinea - a wet terrain, covered with forests along the coast, and Australia - mostly arid open country. People arriving at a party, fell into so excellent that they could not quickly adapt to them, given the initially low level of technology.

Neanderthal

Anthropologist tells about Neanderthal’s anatomy, extinction theories and the disappearance of the Neanderthals. What crops have been created by Neanderthals? What are the main features of the anatomical structure of the Neanderthal? What are the theory of the extinction of the Neanderthals? And what are the reasons for their disappearance?

Neanderthals is a remarkable phenomenon in the history of human origin. Neanderthals - it's kind of an alternative humanity, people who lived in Europe and western Asia (the Middle East to Central Asia, Altai, inclusive), which developed a relatively isolated and independent for hundreds of thousands of years, without any special ties with other mankind, which at the same time there elsewhere. Our ancestors at this time living in Africa, Asia, and Europe and Western Asia were territories Neanderthals. To improve brain – use Phenotropil, Selank, Neuromidine, Cogitum, Picamilon, Nootropil and Vinpotropile.

Already in the XX century geneticists have decoded the genome of the Neanderthal. But the first Neanderthal Genome Project revealed that Neanderthals differ too much from us. And thus, it was alleged that they were nothing to us do not have, that is, it is made independent lines of evolution, which died out safely. But when was decoded (and it specifies the time, virtually every year there are new articles on this topic) gene not only mitochondrial, but also nuclear, it became clear that all the same modern humans have Neanderthal genes, but they are distributed very interesting, because sub-Saharan Africans is almost no Neanderthal genes. And the rest of the world's population - not only that it is all entirely reducible to a single East African populations in the genetic sense - also contains from 1% to 4% Neanderthal genes. This percentage can be considered in different ways: by nucleotides alleles.

Most recently, in the 2010s, have been carried out, in particular, the study of Neanderthal child skeleton of Mezmaiskaya cave in the Caucasus Petrograd by archaeologists, anthropologists, which show that in Mezmaiskaya cave on the number of Neanderthals apparently just capital affect eruption volcanoes. That is one of the strongest evidence of the catastrophic hypotheses Neanderthals extinction. On the other hand, there is a parking lot in the European Arctic, showing that Neanderthals lived rather late, after these catastrophic eruptions. Maybe some groups of Neanderthals remained very late, when already almost all of Europe was occupied by Cro-Magnons. In fact, archaeological data from other regions show slightly different picture. In southern Europe, it may have been a mass extinction (it is possible that the first Cro-Magnons and there as safely extinct), and in the north, in Siberia, in Altai, some Neanderthal groups could persist for a long time. In Spain, known for such a situation with the "border of the Ebro": almost the same time, on the north bank of the Ebro lived Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals lived on the south - the most recent, but in very bad conditions (there were edaphic - dry, dry - steppe ). And there lived on the last Neanderthals. Revealing the last time the existence of the Neanderthals - it is now the most interesting point in this area.

Australopithecus

Anthropologist tells about variety of ways of walking, brains, diet and physiology features of Australopithecus. What are the physiological features of the australopithecines had? Where they lived? The different groups were fed Australopithecus? And what was their way of life?

Australopithecus - this amazing creature, ape-men. These are those who were still monkeys in your head, but most people in the rest of the body. Australopithecus appeared about 7 million years ago, maybe a little earlier, in Africa.

Different species of Australopithecus ate all they could find, ate everything that is typical for the modern man, but more unusual for apes. Because monkeys are not specialized and not fixated on power, and man in particular. This feature has been incorporated in the early stages of development, when they moved into the intermediate habitat where food could pluck from the trees, ripping off the ground, it was possible for someone to catch. To improve brain – use Semax, Cogitum, Picamilon, Phenotropil and Vinpotropile.

First, the early australopithecines were quite diverse, because of all the species of man was the only part of the rest died out, not once they tried to adapt. The next group of Australopithecus after early is Australopithecus gracilis. They existed from about 4 to 2.5 million years ago, they lost the primitive ape traits, but something survived, but they are no longer running fours, were walked upright, climb trees, but is inactive. Brush was better adapted for clinging to a branch than us, but it is much worse than in monkeys.

The emergence of human

Anthropologist tells about the primitive traits of human structure, Homo habilis and homo resettlement. What are the main stages in the evolution of primates? What kind of lifestyle were the first great apes? How was the settlement and development of the species homo? And in the course of evolution there was Homo sapiens?

Apes appeared about 25-26 million years ago. They are quite different from today. This is very important because often people believe that there is an abstract man and monkey. In fact, a monkey is extremely diverse, and these ancient apes in many ways were similar to modern humans. More than that, such as modern chimps in these ancient apes. That is the person in their structure preserved a lot of very primitive features.

About 4 million years ago, the australopithecines evolved into the pre-stage gracile australopithecines. These were the creatures of the meter to one and a half meters tall. And in their structure was a wonderful combination: a head below it were nearly men, and his head was still a monkey. Most importantly, they had a monkey brain volume - 400-500 grams as chimpanzees and gorillas. These creatures have not produced tools. But since they were already fully walked upright, the hands were free, and they are doing something. What is it - the science is not precisely known. But, as with modern chimpanzees make tools and use them, apparently similar cases and Australopithecus gracilis.

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Currently, the most urgent area of anthropology is a search for the ancestors of modern human relations with other ancient people, who along with our ancestors existed on the planet. We know that our ancestors originated in Africa. In Europe at the same time Neanderthals lived, and in Asia - palaeoanthropes groups which common names are still not.