Morphophysiology of the Cerebral Cortex
Authors: S. Sarkisov
Journal: BMJ (1945)

The study of the mechanism of the physiological and patho- physiological processes of the brain has for a long time occupied the attention of investigators.The work of 1. P. Pavlov on conditioned reflexes has opened new ways to the utnderstanding of the activities of the brain up to the most com- plicated ones-i.e., the highest nervous activities.There is no need to stress the importance of these experimental investigations, which furnish us with new ideas and methods for the better understanding of the cerebral processes, both normal and pathological, of man.A few examples of the work done will illustrate the position.M. K. Petrova, one of the oldest pupils of Pavlov, suc- ceeded in establishing in different dogs different types of nervous system with the precise characteristics of the various breeds.Petrova has furthermore ascertained that by inducing conditioned reflexes it is possible to produce experimentally in dogs nervous conditions which are characteristic of typical forms of neurosis.It is important to note, too.that she has ascertained that by the administration of a special dosage of bromine this experimentally produced neurosis can be completely cured.Very interesting from the point of view of the influence of the cerebral cortex on the pathology of the organism are the experiments on conditioned reflexes in combination with the application of camphor.In the laboratories of Pavlov one of his pupils, Dolin, combined the use of the conditioning stimu- lant with the introduction into the organism of the dog of camphor, which, as is well known, causes convulsive epileptic fits.Having established the conditioned reflex through the introduction of camphor, Dolin succeeded, solely by means of the conditioning stimulant, without the introduction of camphor, in causing epileptic fits in the dog.The investigations into the problem of the influence of the cerebral cortex upon the inner organs are, for medicine, in the broadest sense of the word, of particLIlar importance.While up till now we have been able to speak only a priori of the influence of the " psyche " on somatic processes, the experi- mental investigations of K. M. Bukow and his pupils, using the methods of conditioned reflexes, have revealed definite physio- logical laws and the interdependence of the cerebral cortex and the inner organs-the heart, stomach, spleen, liver, urogenital organs, etc.These investigations show how, by causing certain conditioned reflexes in dogs, one can influence and alter the action of such organs as the liver, the kidneys, and the stomach.On the other hand, by a series of experiments, changes in the highest nervous activities of an animal, dependent on the condi- tion of the inner organs, have been established.These experi- ments have shown the influence on the cerebral cortex of the impulses originating from the inner organs-in other words, the place which the most complex inner world of an animal has in its physiological behaviour has been established.In these experiments it was found that, in causing conditioned reflexes or conditioned reflexive activity in an animal, new "temporary connexions " between the various sections of the central nervous system and the various organs and tissues of the organism are apparently created.These investigations, in further developing the teaching of Pavlov on conditioned reflexes, have made it necessary to deal