Russian psychophysiologist and neurophysiologist.
“Creativity is always colored by positive emotions at the stage of the emergence of hypotheses.
The mechanism of this pattern is well explained by the information theory of emotions.
After all, a new guess, assumption, or plan subjectively increases the likelihood of achieving the goal, right up to the moment when logical or experimental testing establishes their true value.”
Simonov V.P., Emotional brain, M., “Science”, 1986, p. 155.
"According to P.V. Simonova, the predominance of the functions of the frontal cortex and hypothalamus in the subject will determine the frequent actualization of needs and purposeful behavior aimed at satisfying them.
In this case, the subject will ignore everything that distracts him from his intended goal. These behavioral features are characteristic of choleric temperament - a strong and excitable type, according to I.P. Pavlov. The interests of a choleric person are constant, stable, and he is persistent in achieving his goal.
The functional predominance of the hippocampus-amygdala system means a readiness to respond to a wide range of signals, including unimportant ones. If it is difficult to identify the dominant motive (amygdala), the behavior of such a subject is characterized by indecision, endless fluctuations with his increased sensitivity to stimuli and a tendency to overestimate the importance of events. This characteristic coincides with the description of a melancholic person - a weak type, according to I.P. Pavlov.
The predominance of the hypothalamus-hippocampus system creates a combination of a dominant need with generalized reactions to signals of unlikely events and unclear purpose. This picture corresponds to a typical sanguine person - a strong, balanced, active type.
The dominance of the amygdala-frontal cortex system determines well-balanced needs without specifically highlighting one of them. A subject with such properties ignores many events and reacts only to highly significant signals. This behavior is typical for a phlegmatic person - a strong, balanced and inert type.
In the four-structure model, their relationship to extraversion and introversion is described as follows. The predominance of the functions of information structures - the frontal cortex and hippocampus - determines the subject's primary orientation towards the external environment and his dependence on the events occurring in it. Such traits are characteristic of an extrovert. The predominance of motivational systems - the hypothalamus and amygdala - creates an introvert with his stability of internal motives, attitudes and their low dependence on external influences. An introvert is uncommunicative, shy, and strives for order.”
Danilova N.N., Psychophysiology, M., “Aspect Press”, 2000, p. 199.
| From the authors | |||
| Introduction | |||
| The problem of human cognition and the role of P.V. Simonov in the development of the doctrine of motivational and emotional aspects of the brain in the second half of the 20th century | |||
| Some biographical data and personality traits of P.V. Simonov | |||
| Scientific schools and P.V.Simonov | |||
| Is there currently a danger of science becoming a kind of “pure commodity”? | |||
| Features of P.V. Simonov as a person, scientist and scientific leader | |||
| P.V. Simonov: “I believe that every scientist should have a unique combination of thinking ability and artistic vision of the world” | |||
| Experiments by P.V. Simonov on identifying “egoists” and “altruists” | |||
| Consequences arising from the law of conservation of “egoists” and “altruists” | |||
| P.V. Simonov’s concept of “egoists” and “altruists” and our “eternal” problems | |||
| P.V.Simonov as a psychologist | |||
| What role do we play in this life? | |||
| P.V. Simonov: “What have we lost with the scientific and technological revolution?” | |||
| P.V. Simonov and his individual actions in the context of time | |||
| P.V. Simonov: “What are they - the “pros” and “cons” of the past and present life?” | |||
| P.V. Simonov: “We are responsible for what happens in the world, and especially for what happens around us” | |||
| The last years of P.V. Simonov’s life | |||
| Instead of an epilogue | |||
| List of the main works of P.V. Simonov, presented in the PubMed system | |||
| Application |
Pavel Vasilievich Simonov was one of the leading physiologists of the second half of the 20th and early 21st centuries. In 1981, he became a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and in 1987 - an academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences. From 1982 to 2000 P.V. Simonov headed the Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and then the Russian Academy of Sciences. In the 90s (post-perestroika) of the XX century. he was academician-secretary of the physiology department. During his scientific career, P.V. Simonov published 16 books and more than 400 articles. For the monographs “The Theory of Reflection of Psychophysiological Emotions” and “Higher Nervous Activity of Man. Motivational and Emotional Aspects” P.V. Simonov was awarded the I.P. Pavlov Prize. He developed, theoretically substantiated and expressed ideas about the scope of application of a whole complex of methods for diagnosing and predicting the functional state of the human brain. For these studies, P.V. Simonov was awarded the State Prize in 1987. For those readers who do not like author's prefaces, but nevertheless want to know who and what our book is about, we can briefly answer as follows. Our book is about the physiologist Pavel Vasilyevich Simonov and the secret, still far from unknown structures that underlie our “I”, which are revealed in behavior. P.V. Simonov was a natural scientist and philosopher. However, his work was of extremely important practical importance and was capable (if used correctly) of generating billions of dollars in profit, and could also be used to prevent demographic cataclysms.
In a small book dedicated to the memory of Pavel Vasilievich Simonov, we will not be able to retell or reveal the wealth of ideas, concepts and theories contained in his books and articles. What then is the purpose of writing this work? We would like to talk about P.V. Simonov - a man, scientist and teacher, or rather, about the image that has been preserved in our memory. It is known that no one has yet developed general rules for writing memoirs, although many have realized that it is sometimes more convenient to state facts than to express one’s own thoughts, judgments and ideas. It is also necessary to take into account that the memory of each person is selective, therefore all known memories differ not only in the style of writing, but also in what some prefer to talk about and others to keep silent. Meanwhile, it is noted that the brighter and more subjective the memories, the more they cause controversy among contemporaries. However, sometimes it happens that memories indirectly say more about the author himself than about the people he remembers. They also say that memoirs about contemporaries cannot be written in such a way that everyone will like them. However, you can try to make sure that they minimally irritate everyone who thinks that He, she or They they know and remember the hero of the memories better than others. Our modest task was only to express personal ideas about Pavel Vasilyevich Simonov. These memoirs will reflect only those facts, events and thoughts of P.V. Simonov that made our own lives more meaningful. Therefore, our memories and personal point of view on past events are subjective, one-sided, and, as they now write in the media, may differ from other officially or unofficially recognized points of view.
The book, dedicated to Pavel Vasilievich Simonov, is written in the form of an essay. Initially, we did not think that individual reflections recorded in different years would ever find their reader. They recorded "for themselves." Why? Probably because they couldn’t help but pee: no one itches if they don’t itch. Thus, A. Einstein once answered the question: why do science and culture exist at all? Everything we wrote was sincere. However, our individual generalizations have been written “on the table” for a long time. As the “table” filled up, it suddenly turned out that some of them were connected with the activities of Pavel Vasilyevich Simonov. Moreover, some thoughts could not have arisen if there had not been periodic speeches by Pavel Vasilyevich during conferences, meetings of Academic Councils and individual meetings with him on a variety of occasions. So gradually the idea made sense. Then the desire to write appeared. It is known that it is always interesting to try yourself in something that you have not done before. Gradually, a feeling of some unity began to emerge, as if individual strokes of impressionist painting were united by one common idea, which could be called: the scientific activity of Pavel Vasilyevich Simonov.
Every scientist should have gratitude to his predecessors, respect for his contemporaries and responsibility to future scientists. Then his work will be many years on Earth...
D.S. Likhachev
Genuine truth is possible only where it is sought not for self-affirmation, but for its own sake.
A.A. Ukhtomsky
Scientists belong to that category of people who are rarely shown on television, they are not recognized on the street, and no one asks them for autographs. Few people achieve an aura of fame among people of science. Not all Nobel laureates have the opportunity to see their lifetime portrait in books and textbooks. Few of them are sure that his name will be known and remembered by his descendants. They say that scientists are widely known in a narrow circle of professionals. However, it is from this environment of little-known professionals that people emerge who have the greatest influence on the scientific and technological progress of society.
Pavel Vasilievich Simonov was one of the largest physiologists in the field of higher nervous activity. He created the “need-information theory of emotions and behavior,” which made it possible to understand the mechanisms of the emergence of positive and negative emotions and their role in the organization of behavior. Thanks to the theory of P.V. Simonov, it was possible to find experimental approaches to the study of motivations and emotions, discover new stages and patterns of the occurrence of emotional stress in a human operator, and develop methods for objective assessment of emotional stress. In 1979, P.V. Simonov was awarded the I.P. Pavlov Prize for the monographs “The Theory of Reflection of Psychophysiological Emotions” and “Higher Nervous Activity of Man. Motivational and Emotional Aspects.” He developed, theoretically substantiated and expressed ideas about the scope of application of a whole complex of methods for diagnosing and predicting the functional state of the human brain. For these studies, P.V. Simonov was awarded the State Prize in 1987. The “need-information theory of emotions and behavior” created by P.V. Simonov was developed in his books: “The Emotional Brain” (1981), “The Motivated Brain” (1987) and “The Creative Brain” (1993). The works of P.V. Simonov laid the foundations for a new approach to a whole complex of problems of consciousness, memory, conscious and unconscious internal states in the organization of conscious human activity.
P.V. Simonov is known to many, first of all, as the scientist who created need-information theory of behavior. Before Pavel Vasilyevich, many people spoke about needs. However, he was the first to declare needs the main primary source of behavioral activity, the regulator of evolution, the coordinator of history, the source of the creative process and the driving force of all individual and collective action, both human and animal. For the first time in history, Pavel Vasilievich Simonov showed that there is no independence of action in the world. Any behavior, action or inaction is determined by a satisfied or unsatisfied need. Need, according to P.V. Simonov’s definition, is “a specific (essential) force of living organisms, ensuring their connection with the external environment for self-preservation and self-development... The preservation and development of a person are the essence of manifestations of this force...”
Natural scientists have repeatedly confirmed the position that theory generalizes the previous stage of knowledge. However, the theory not only generalizes the previous stage of knowledge. It always represents a new, well-defined and fixed stage in the history of knowledge. This is due, first of all, to the fact that when theoretically mastering an object or subject of research, a scientist always strives to have a holistic scope, when the object acts not only as an observable phenomenon, but also as an already derived pattern. Thus, the creation by P.V. Simonov need-information theory of behavior for the first time brought many unconscious needs from the abyss of unconscious (roughly earthly) human nature into the area of the “illuminated circle of consciousness”, where they became conscious motivations.
On the pages of a short brochure we cannot go into details of the complex and, at the same time, beautiful need-information theory of behavior. Yu.P. Vyazemsky in the book “The Armament of Odysseus” analyzed the theory of P.V. Simonov in a short, entertaining and accessible form for the general reader. In our work, we would like to draw the attention of readers only to some provisions of the teachings of P.V. Simonov about the motivational-emotional aspects of the brain, which could be briefly defined as the concept of “egoists” and “altruists”. These provisions, from our point of view, have great practical significance and are very relevant in our time.
Simonov, Pavel Vasilievich -(b. 04/20/1926) - special. in psychophysiology, speaks in philosophy. aspects of the problem of consciousness; Dr. med. sciences, prof. Genus. in Leningrad. Graduated from Military Med. Academy named after S.M.Kirova (1951). Since 1960 - at the Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Cand. and Dr. diss. devoted to problems of psychophysiology. Academician RAS. S. deals with problems of psychophysiology of motivations, emotions and consciousness. In his works he considers needs as the basis and driving force of behavior. S. offers a classification of needs, dividing them into vital, social, ideal, needs for equipment (competence) and overcoming obstacles (will). Distinguishes between social needs “for oneself” and “for others”. Interprets emotions as a reflection of an actual need and the likelihood (possibility) of its satisfaction at the moment. Justifies the position about the fundamental complementarity of determinism and free will, depending on the position of the observer. Distinguishes between consciousness, subconscious and superconsciousness (creative intuition). Creative considers, as a special case of the processes of self-development of living nature, the self-determination of behavior - as occurring due to the activity of the superconscious, its ability to create such recombinations of memory traces, which have never previously been encountered in the experience of the subject. The history of civilization, according to S., is the history of means of satisfying needs that influence the development (elevation) of the needs themselves.
Works: Theory of reflection and psychophysiology of emotions. M., 1970; Category of consciousness, subconscious and superconsciousness in the creative system of K.S. Stanislavsky // Unconscious. T.2. Tbilisi, 1978; On the cognitive function of empathy // VF. 1979. No. 9; Emotional brain. M., 1981; Emotions and education // VF. 1981. No. 5; Determinism and freedom of choice // Methodological problems of the physiology of higher nervous activity. M., 1982; Temperament. Character. Personality. [In co-authors]. M., 1984; About two types of unconscious mental: sub- and superconsciousness // Unconscious. T.4. Tbilisi, 1985; Motivated brain. Higher nervous activity and natural scientific foundations of general psychology. M., 1987; Interdisciplinary concept of man: a need-information approach. M., 1989; The origin of spirituality. [In co-authors]. M., 1989; Anatomy of conscience // Man. 1990. No. 5; Brain and creativity // VF. 1992. No. 11; Creative brain. Neurobiological foundations of creativity. M., 1993.
Simonov, Pavel Vasilievich
Full member of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1987), Academician-Secretary of the Department of Physiology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Director of the Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology; born April 20, 1926; graduated from the Military Medical Academy in 1951; main directions of scientific activity: neurophysiology and psychophysiology of motivations and emotions; USSR State Prize laureate (1987); married, has two children; hobbies: skiing and hiking.
Great biographical encyclopedia 2009
Academician Pavel Vasilievich Simonov devoted his entire life to the study of psychophysiology and biophysics. He was an expert in the field of experimental neurophysiology of emotions, and also studied nervous activity and possible problems associated with it. What was his path to global recognition by the scientific community, what did he devote his life to, what works did he leave for his descendants, and where did he work during his scientific career? More on this and more.
Biography of Pavel Vasilievich Simonov
Pavel Vasilyevich was born on April 20, 1926 in Leningrad in the family of repressed (as an “enemy of the people”) officer Stanislav Stankevich. His mother, Maria Karlovna Stankevich, and the boy’s sister Galina were expelled from Leningrad. Such a “shadow” cast on the family did not allow Pavel Simonov to exist in peace for many years. Fortunately, at the new place of residence, the famous sculptor Vasily Lvovich Simonov became a neighbor of Pavel Vasilyevich and his family. He provided great support to little Pavel, adopted him, gave the boy not only his last name, but also made sure that the capable student received a good education. Simonov's sister, Galina Stanislavovna Stankevich, moved to Sweden, where she still lives with her family.
Studies
In 1944, just a year before the end of the war, Pavel Vasilyevich Simonov received the opportunity to study at a flight school, but due to poor health he was unable to continue his studies for more than a year. He transferred to the Military Medical Academy. In 1951 he graduated with excellent results.
Personal life
Pavel Vasilyevich Simonov has two children: a daughter - a famous actress; a son - - followed in his father's footsteps and became a professor. The wife of Simonov Sr., Olga Sergeevna Vyazemskaya, worked as a foreign language teacher. The Simonov couple have four adult granddaughters: Anastasia, Zoya, Ksenia and Maria.
Professional activity
Immediately after graduating from the Military Medical Academy, Pavel Vasilyevich began working in the laboratory of the Main Military Hospital named after N. N. Burdenko. He spent 9 years as a researcher and laboratory manager. Then he worked for one year as a senior researcher at the Physiological Laboratory of the USSR Academy of Sciences. In 1962, Simonov became the head of a laboratory at the Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. E. A. Asratyan became the manager at the new place of work.
His career quickly took off and soon Pavel Vasilievich Simonov became deputy director and then director at this institute. Since 1991, Simonov has been an Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He has the title: In 1996, he began working at In 1999, he was awarded the title “Emerited Professor of Moscow University.” Simonov was a professor at the department of higher nervous activity. He also worked in the Department of Physiology of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
In addition to writing a large number of books, he shared his knowledge in the “Journal of Higher Nervous Activity named after. I. P. Pavlova", where he held an editorial position. He was a member of the editorial board of the journal “Science and Life,” which is very loved by people close to science and simply interested in it. He also edited the publication of “Classics of Sciences” from the Russian Academy of Sciences. For his scientific developments, he was a member of the International Academy of Astronautics, the New York Academy of Sciences, the American Association of Aviation and Space Medicine, and became an honorary member of the Pavlovsk Scientific Society of the USA.
Simonov Pavel Vasilievich
Research work has always attracted Pavel Vasilyevich. He began to be passionate about it from the very beginning of his medical practice. The academician paid much attention to the peculiarities of brain behavior. In 1964, he developed the need-information theory of emotions, in which he explained that emotion is a reflection of the actual needs of the brain. He was able to substantiate some of the basic terms of psychology, for example, “will”, “emotions”, “consciousness” and others.
Many scientists note works describing the classification of human needs created by Simonov. The work of Pavel Simonov is also interesting in creating a formula for all the factors that influence the creation of emotion. This truly mathematical approach to the natural human process made the entire Russian scientific community talk about Simonov. For his work in developing diagnostics and the state of the human brain, he received the USSR State Prize. He was also awarded the gold medal named after I.M. Sechenov, received the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, the Badge of Honor, the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 4th degree, and others.
Books
During his life, Pavel Vasilyevich wrote many books, textbooks, and published many scientific works. Not only students, but also teachers, as well as many scientists around the world are grateful to him for his work. Books by Pavel Vasilyevich Simonov are downloaded dozens of times every day and do not lose popularity in specialized departments of bookstores. One of the most famous books written by Simonov is a collection of lectures on the work of the brain. In it, he considered consciousness as knowledge, divided the subconscious and superconscious as two types of the psychic unconscious. This work became a scientific revelation. Before Pavel Vasilievich, no one delved into the study of this topic in such detail and completely.
Simonov showed great interest in the study of human emotions. One of the books he wrote on this topic was the publication “The Method of K. S. Stanislavsky and the Physiology of Emotions.” In it, he revealed the principles of the influence of the cerebral cortex on the manifestation of human emotionality, and he also wrote about the findings of studying the connection between speech and movements of the human body. Then Simonov replenished the department of libraries on general psychology with his publications on the brain. He published several collections of articles devoted to his scientific research on the brain, as well as the differences in the functioning of the brain of creative people, scientists and the average worker.
The works of Pavel Vasilyevich Simonov in the field of studying personality character are also known. Many people note that the book “The Disease of Ignorance,” also authored by Simonov, was very useful to them in their studies.
last years of life
The great academician Pavel Simonov passed away on June 6, 2002. He died in Moscow, where he lived all his life. The scientist was buried at the Khovanskoye cemetery in the capital of Russia.
Together with Pavel Vasilyevich, an entire era of Soviet and Russian science passed away. But it must be said that he left a huge mark on the history of neuro- and psychophysiology. His works, books, and collections of lectures are still used today: students continue to write their theses on them, and scientists continue to write doctoral dissertations on them. His name is often remembered at conferences, and at Moscow State University, where Simonov worked for many years, their honored professor is remembered every year.
Simonov Pavel Vasilievich(April 20, 1926, Leningrad - June 6, 2002, Moscow), neurophysiologist and psychophysiologist, academician. RAS (academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences. since 1987), Doctor of Medical Sciences (1961), professor (1969). He graduated from the Military Medical Academy in Leningrad (1951), worked there and in a military clinical hospital. Since 1960 in the Academy of Sciences, since 1962 at the Institute of Higher Nervous Activity (director since 1982). Academician secret (since 1988) Department of Physiology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ch. ed. “Journal of Higher Nervous Activity named after I.P. Pavlova" (since 1982). Member of the New York and some other Academy of Sciences, honorary member of the Pavlovsk Scientific Society of the USA State. pr USSR. (1987, in a team) for the creation and development of methods for diagnosing and predicting the state of the human brain
Main scientific interests - neuro- and psychophysiology of motivations and emotions Proposed the need-information theory of emotions (1964), according to which emotion is the brain’s reflection of any current need and the probability of its satisfaction; the subject evaluates this probability involuntarily, comparing - often unconsciously - ideas about the means, time, resources predictably necessary to achieve the goal, with information received at the moment (book “Emotional Brain”, 1981). Along with the “information” system of the brain, a person has a “motivational” system, which establishes a dynamic hierarchy of competing needs. Individual characteristics of the interaction of brain structures form the basis of the types of nervous system (by) and the parameters of extraversion-introversion and neuroticism (by). Violation of this interaction leads to the development of neuroses (book “Motivated Brain”, 1987).
Simonov created a classification of needs in which, along with the triad of basic and primary in origin (vital, social, ideal), a class of additional ones is identified, among which is the need for equipment (mastery of knowledge, skills, abilities) and the need to overcome obstacles on the way to the goal (will ). In the hierarchy of motives in children and adolescents, the need for equipment occupies a dominant position. According to the need-information theory, the task of education is the formation of a certain set and hierarchy of needs, ensuring their harmonious combination in the motivational structure of the individual. Simonov described the phenomenon of emotional resonance, which was discovered in the early stages of the evolution of living nature, which in humans can be developed by education into the ability to sympathize and empathize and into the dominance of the need for activity “for others.” In contrast to training, which addresses mainly the consciousness of the subject, the education of needs occurs mainly at the level of the subconscious and superconscious. According to Simonov, the creative principle in brain activity is represented by the unconscious recombination of experience previously accumulated by consciousness and partly by the subconscious. This reconstruction is stimulated and directed by a dominant need. Consciousness formulates problems for the cognitive mind, selects hypotheses through their logical evaluation and practice. Simonov's theory of emotions became the basis for the development of comprehensive methods for objective control of emotional stress and its impact on human creative and operator activity.
