17. Mental processes as structural elements of mental activity management.

Summary

Mental processes in terms of cybernetic science. General idea of ​​cybernetics. Control systems and control objects. Self-regulation of the body and cybernetics. Works by E. Pfluger, I. M. Sechenov, I. P. Pavlov. Understanding of signaling systems. Reflex arc and reflex ring as a form of controlling the state of the body. The concept of "black and white boxes".

Signal theory and mental processes. Control circuit. Closed and open control loops. Structural elements of the control circuit. Information. The nature of information. Source and carrier of information. Spatio-temporal ordering as an invariant of the physical world. Isomorphism Terms Isomor4> ism. Scale of isomorphism levels.

Information structure of the nervous processes and mental images. The nature of nervous excitement. Electrogenez. The main forms of nervous excitement and their parameters. General principles of encoding and decoding information. Phases of recreating spatial characteristics in a mental image. The main functions of the sensory-perceptual system. Perceptual disorders. The concept of the control circuit and the self-development of the human personality.

17.1. Mental processes in terms of cybernetic science

The psyche plays an extremely important role in ensuring the existence of man as a biological object. Its special position among other systems of the body is caused by the fact that the psyche provides the possibility of purposeful behavior and regulation of the emotional state of a person. It is the presence of the psyche of this function - the function of control and regulation - that allows for certain parallels between mental phenomena and general cybernetic laws and laws.

Cybernetics is the science of the general laws governing the processes of control and transmission of information in machines, living objects and society. The peak of the development of cybernetics falls on the middle of the XX century, which was associated with the rapid development of science and technology. From the point of view of cybernetics, any self-fulfilling object, that is, an object possessing a specific program of actions, must consist of at least two systems. First, he must have a system that would be able to implement this program. Secondly, there must be systems that would directly perform the actions laid down in the program. Thus, we are talking about control systems and control systems (objects). The control object has a target

value, which is to perform certain actions, and in some cases it may change itself. The control system has a target management facility. The management process is carried out as the exchange of information between the control system and the control object. Moreover, the exchange of information between the control system and the control object is carried out through two channels. Direct communication channels receive information from the control system to the control object. This information contains instructions and commands for the control object, in accordance with which this or that movement is carried out, operation, etc. The feedback channels receive information from the object to the control system about the results of the execution of this or that command.

The simplest example of such a self-fulfilling object is software-controlled machines that possess a specific program, or control system, and the mechanisms that execute this program. A more complex cybernetic object is a robot that independently executes a program in a field (physical, informational, natural, etc.). Under the conditions of the field, he must not only carry out the actions laid down in the program, but also make the appropriate changes in the nature of the actions performed, depending on the external conditions. Such an object could be considered as self-actualizing, since it seeks to most fully execute the program in constantly changing environmental conditions (Fig. 17.1).

A living organism is an even more complex object. Under the influence of external conditions, changes occur not only in the nature of the actions committed by them, but also in the organism itself. Consequently, a living organism is not only self-actualizing, but also self-regulating. Man is probably one of the most complex objects of the real world, known to science at the present time. It is not only self-actualizing and self-regulating, but also self-developing object. His property as a self-developing object is that he is able to independently create and change the program of his actions.

synchronic cognitive processes as structural elements of the control system in ensuring human adaptation from the cybernetics point of view.

A significant breakthrough in the development of the scientific concept of man occurred when it came to the understanding that a living organism has such a property as self-regulation. Probably, we are primarily obliged to C. Bernard and W. Cannon, who began to talk about the body's self-regulation as the most important condition for maintaining the constancy of the parameters of the internal environment, and therefore, as one of the basic living conditions of biological objects. Further development of this problem has led to the fact that it has been proven that there is a relationship between mental and physiological phenomena.

The fact is that until the middle of the XIX century, the brain as a carrier of the mental was opposed to all other systems of the body, including the spinal cord, which at that time was considered as the source of many

ziological functions, i.e., brain activity in most cases was in no way associated with the activity of the spinal cord. The question of self-regulation of the organism has led to the need to find the structures and mechanisms that ensure this regulation. One of the first as the system of regulation of the internal environment of the body was called the spinal cord. However, experimental studies conducted by E. Pfluger on the study of reactions controlled only by the spinal cord (reactions of decapitated animals), allowed us to detect signs of acts of mentally controlled behavior. It has been suggested that the spinal cord is involved in the implementation of mental acts. Therefore, it is not by chance that E. Pfluger called his work “Sensory functions of the spinal cord”.

On the other hand, the studies of K. Bernard, I. M. Sechenov, and E. Weber showed that the brain, in turn, is involved not only in the implementation of mental

functions, but also in the regulation of the internal environment of the body. Thus , the central nervous system, which includes both the brain and the spinal cord with inherent psychological and physiological functions, began to be called the main system of regulation of the organism.

At the same time, any system for carrying out its functions must have certain mechanisms. The reflex was considered as such a mechanism in physiology. Initially, the reflex was commonly understood as the mechanism of interaction of individual body systems for the implementation of a biologically expedient response to any effect. Moreover, the reflex phenomenon in most cases was associated with the spinal cord. Meanwhile, in the process of theoretical and experimental research, it became clear that the somatic and homeostatic functions, performing the role of biologically expedient reactions, are controllable, and the control devices are the corresponding nerve centers, including those located in the brain. Consequently, the brain is also involved in the formation of reflexes. Moreover, it was found that he plays a leading role. And as we know, during this period, mental activity was directly associated with the functioning of the brain. But if this is so, then the question arises whether the psyche is involved in the regulation of the body? If so, what is its role? How to link mental phenomena inherent in the brain, with the problem of regulation of the body? The answer to these and many other questions was given by I. M. Sechenov, who began to consider the reflex as a more generalized phenomenon.

Sechenov is known to modern scientists not only as a talented physiologist, but also as a psychologist. He tried to explain many mental phenomena, which include motivated behavior. In the course of his psychological and physiological research, Sechenov came to a radical conclusion: one cannot isolate *** the central, brain link of the mental act from its natural beginning and end. It is impossible to consider mental phenomena, connecting them only with the activity of the brain, separating them from the periphery and other body systems. The whole nervous system is involved in the formation of mental and psycho-physiological phenomena. This unity, according to Sechenov, is due to the fact that the mental act is a process that has its beginning and end. He wrote: "As the basis of scientific psychology, the idea of ​​mental activity in terms of process, movement ... should be taken as the initial axiom, just as the idea of ​​the indestructibility of matter is the original truth in modern chemistry."

If you agree with this statement, you must agree that mental phenomena can not be caused by only one activity of the brain. If the intracerebral link is central not only in the sense that its role is primary, but also in the fact that it is the middle in the general structure of the whole act , then in relation to it the beginning and end of need can be only extra-cerebral components at the periphery. The initial link is the irritating effect of an object, and, accordingly, the final link is the center-mediated action of a person directed to this object.

According to Sechenov, such a holistic act with its intracerebral link and extra-cerebral somatic periphery, which connects the organism with the object, is ref-

Lex And if the central link with its mental functions cannot be separated from the somatic periphery, this means that the substrate of the mental act is not only the brain link, but the whole three-member structure in which the initial and final peripheral components play an equally important role. than the central component. And if so, then we must draw at least two logical conclusions.

Во-первых, психические явления (акты) являются неотъемлемой частью рефлексов, которые охватывают все иерархические уровни нервно-мозгового аппарата и выражают общую форму работы нервной системы. Следовательно, психические акты включены в осуществление регуляции организма.

Во-вторых, поскольку концевые компоненты рефлекторного акта по своей природе неотделимы от раздражителя, то рефлекс — это не только внутриорганическое образование, но и механизм физического взаимодействия между организмом и объектом. Следовательно, психические процессы включены в организацию взаимодействия организма и внешней среды.

Исходя из этих выводов, можно сделать предположение о том, что, поскольку психические процессы связаны не только с центральным звеном, но и с концевыми компонентами рефлекса, вероятно, именно они являются той структурой, которая связывает воедино все компоненты рефлекса, а следовательно, осуществляет взаимодействие организма и среды. Однако такое понимание роли психики возникло значительно позднее. Этому предшествовали работы И. П. Павлова, Н. А. Бернштейна, П. К. Анохина и др.

Очень часто в психологической литературе, когда авторы оценивают вклад Павлова в развитие психологии, говорят об открытии им условного рефлекса как физиологического принципа организации поведения. Однако не меньшая, а, может быть, даже большая заслуга Павлова заключается в том, что он рассматривал рефлекс как принцип уравновешивания организма и среды. Он писал: «Первое обеспечение уравновешивания, а следовательно, и целостности отдельного организма, как и его вида, составляют безусловные рефлексы, как самые простые... так и сложнейшие, обыкновенно называемые инстинктами... Но достигаемое этими рефлексами уравновешивание было бы совершенным только при абсолютном постоянстве внешней среды. А так как внешняя среда при своем чрезвычайном разнообразии вместе с тем находится в постоянном коле***нии, то безусловных связей как связей постоянных недостаточно, и необходимо дополнение их условными рефлексами, временными связями»*.

Таким образом, рассматривая рефлекс как механизм уравновешивания организма и среды, Павлов разделил рефлексы на два основных вида: безусловные, или видовые, т. е. свойственные для всех представителей данного биологического вида, являющиеся проводниковыми, т. е. обеспечивающими биологическое существование организма, и условные, которые носят временный характер и по необходимости являются замыкательными, т. е. обеспечивающими замыкание и размыкание «проводниковых цепей» между явлениями внешнего мира и реакциями на них живого организма. Но за счет чего происходит это «замыкание»? Вероятно, для того чтобы начал формироваться условный рефлекс, необходима информация

* Павлов И. П. Избранные произведения. — М.: Учпедгиз, 1949.

о соответствующих изменениях внешней среды, а также необходимы механизмы, которые могли бы осуществить переработку данной информации.

Отвечая на эти вопросы, Павлов выделяет целостный механизм анализатора, включающий периферическое, промежуточное и центральное звенья, а также говорит о существовании высшей нервной деятельности, обладающей своими каналами получения информации, называя их первой и второй сигнальной системой. К первой сигнальной системе он относил психические образы, которые возникают вследствие воздействия на организм физических раздражителей. Ко второй сигнальной системе он относил речемыслительные процессы. В качестве второсигнального раздражителя им рассматривался внешний социальный и вместе с тем физический агент. Таким агентом является слово, которое воспринимается с помощью анализаторов, но вместе с тем оно наполнено социальным содержанием.

Следовательно, Павлов рассматривал психические явления в качестве одного из компонентов регуляции жизнедеятельности человека. Для него психические явления выступали как носители информации, как сигналы, включающие систему регуляции организма и поведения человека, а в качестве основного механизма системы регуляции он рассматривал образование рефлекса (или рефлекторной дуги), который в свою очередь был не чем иным, как результатом сигнализации. Таким образом, Павлов одним из первых связал психические явления с поступающей извне информацией — сигналами внешнего мира. А именно сигналы являются одним из важнейших структурных элементов современных кибернетических теорий. Поэтому мы вправе утверждать, что труды И. М. Сеченова и И. П. Павлова в значительной степени предопределили возможность рассмотрения психических явлений с позиций кибернетической науки.

Однако в ходе развития науки стало понятно, что механизмы регуляции имеют более сложную структуру, чем рефлекторная дуга, предложенная Павловым. Было высказано предположение, что, скорее всего, эти механизмы имеют вид рефлекторного кольца.

The idea of ​​a reflex ring was proposed and theoretically developed by the famous Russian scientist N. A. Bernstein. In his opinion, the regulatory act does not end with the response of the organism. In order to accomplish a complex action, it is necessary not only to form a com *** u to perform it, but also to trace its implementation, and also to make appropriate changes in the course of its implementation, if necessary. Therefore, speaking of the regulation of the organism and activity, it is necessary to talk not about the reflex arc, but about the reflex ring, in relation to which the conditioned reflex is only a special case.

Обоснование Бернштейном концепции рефлекторного кольца принципиальным образом изменило представление об участии психики в регуляции состояний организма и поведения человека в целом. В рамках данной концепции психика стала рассматриваться не как носитель информации, а как непосредственное управляющее звено, имеющее свою структуру и механизмы.

Таким образом, к середине XX века стало ясно, что в живом организме существует целая система регуляции, которая учитывает поступающие извне сигналы и на их основе формирует программу уравновешивания организма со средой в ви-

де регуляции внутренней среды организма и внешнего поведения. Однако по-прежнему оставались без ответов вопросы о том, как все это реально происходит. Дать ответ на эти вопросы не представлялось возможным, потому что человек оставался объектом, «в который нельзя залезть и пощупать все своими руками». Этого нельзя сделать, не нарушив целостность организма, не вызвав его гибель, но когда в биологическом объекте останавливается жизнь и прекращается функционирование его систем, ответы на поставленные вопросы не могут быть найдены. Поэтому организм человека и его психику стали называть «черным ящиком» — объектом, не поддающимся всестороннему и полному изучению.

Другое дело технические системы. В отличие от живого организма все можно оценить и исследовать с момента их создания. Можно установить закономерности их функционирования. Поэтому, в отличие от живых организмов, технический объект очень часто, по выражению создателя кибернетической науки Н. Винера, называют «белым ящиком». С развитием электронно-вычислительной техники, созданием сложных технических систем, построенных на законах кибернетики, стало ясно, что существует очень много общего между принципами организации регуляции живых организмов и кибернетических систем. Исходя из этого были предприняты попытки создания концепций и теорий регуляции биологических организмов по аналогии с кибернетическими системами. Некоторые из них оказались в состоянии объяснить ряд психических явлений. К числу таких работ в первую очередь необходимо отнести труды представителя санкт-петербургской психологической школы Л. М. Веккера.

Рассмотрим более подробно некоторые положения, на которых основываются данные концепции.

17.2. Теория сигналов и психические процессы

Теория сигналов является центральной в кибернетике. Ее основными понятиями являются управляющий контур и информация. Управляющий контур — это система управления технического или биологического объекта, которая включает в себя ряд механизмов, обеспечивающих процесс управления от момента получения сигнала до выполнения соответствующего действия. Принято разделять разомкнутые, или открытые, и замкнутые управляющие контуры. К разомкнутым управляющим контурам относятся системы, способные лишь к ответному действию, заложенному программой, без ее корректировки. В большинстве случаев при разомкнутом управляющем контуре контроль над выполняемым действием самой системой не осуществляется. Как правило, данный вариант управляющего контура является частным случаем более сложного закрытого управляющего контура. Закрытый управляющий контур включает в себя структурные элементы, которые обеспечивают контроль над выполнением действия до его полного завершения, и при необходимости выполняют корректировку действия в зависимости от условий, в которых Это действие выполняется. Для осуществления процесса управления по принципу замкнутого контура система должна иметь ряд функциональных элементов

управления, таких как блок приема и передачи информации, блок хранения информации, программный блок, блок сличения эталонов и результатов выполнения действия, блок оценки ситуации, блок принятия решения, блок выдачи команд на выполнение действий и др.

Н. Винер считает, что живой организм управляется по общим принципам. Для этого у него есть все необходимое, вплоть до морфологического строения отдельных органов и систем. Например, такова морфология нейрона. Нейрон имеет функциональный блок входа информации — дендрит; центральный, интегрирующий блок — тело нейрона; блок выхода — аксон. Следовательно, морфологическое строение и функциональная организация живого организма имеют природную предрасположенность к тому, чтобы осуществлять саморегуляцию по общекибернетическим принципам.

Следует отметить, что в регуляции живых организмов встречаются оба контура. Рефлекторная дуга по своей сути является разомкнутым контуром. Действием рефлекторной дуги можно объяснить простейшие действия. Например, инстинктивное отдергивание руки при прикосновении к горячему предмету. Более сложные действия имеют более сложную систему управления, реализующуюся по принципу замкнутого управляющего контура. Вариантом такого контура в биологических объектах является рефлекторное кольцо. Однако включение любого из управляющих контуров вызвано получением организмом соответствующей информации. Что же такое информация? Какова ее природа? Давайте постараемся ответить на эти вопросы.

Первоначально термин «информация» рассматривался как технический термин. В дальнейшем это понятие получило более обобщенный смысл. Н. Винер пишет; «Информация — это обозначение содержания, полученного из внешнего мира в процессе нашего приспособления к нему и приспособления к нему наших чувств. Процесс получения и использования информации является процессом нашего приспособления к случайностям внешней среды и нашей жизнедеятельности в этой среде...» (Винер Н., 1958).

Таким образом, то знание о чем-либо или о ком-либо, которое мы получаем, и есть информация. Человек обладает двумя способами получения информации об окружающем его мире и явлениях объективной действительности. Это, во-первых, непосредственное чувственное восприятие и, во-вторых, это мышление, или опосредованное восприятие. Рассмотрим более подробно первый канал получения информации.

For sensory perception, the source of information is all objects surrounding a person that can affect his senses. At the same time, dozens and hundreds of objects affect our sense organs. These objects of the real world are for us a kind of sensory field, which can be represented as a set of elements of the source of information (A). However, this information is information only for those for whom it can be a source of certain knowledge. Consequently, the source of information and the information carrier are not only identical concepts, but also existing ones, although they are closely interconnected with each other. Therefore, the information phenomenon can be represented as a mapping of

Fig. 17.2. The identity of two sets as a condition of existence

information. Explanations in the text

elements of the source of information in a variety of media states (B). Moreover, the set B must be identical with the set A (fig. 17.2). But if we are talking about the identity of sets, then we should be aware that the source of information has certain characteristics perceived by the information carrier. What are these characteristics? Which of them are most significant for a person or another living organism?

Regardless of the modality of the source of information and its significance for the immediate object that perceives this information, there are characteristics characteristic of all information sources of the physical world - this is the time and place they occupy in space. Indeed, the space-time characteristics are inherent in all objects of the external environment, which are a potential source of information for a living organism. However, as you remember, all objects around us can act either as an object or as a background. Why is the selection of a particular object as a subject? Why are we able to distract from the noise or interference that the objects around us create, and select from the incoming signals from the external environment those that are of informational importance to us? One of the reasons is the subjective significance of the object for a person. But besides this, there are physical characteristics of the object, which allow us to isolate it from the environment. These include the amount of information and waveform.

Imagine going to school. Children focus on the task. Suddenly their attention was attracted by some sound. Why did this happen? Apparently, the sound they heard was something different from the others. For example, its spatial localization, or exposure time,

or perhaps by its qualitative characteristics or intensity of manifestation. N. Wiener believes that the main difference of information from noise, which is generated by objects of the external environment, is the organization of the signal. If noise is chaos, then information is organization. The signal perceived by a biological object as information has a certain spatial and temporal organization. The measure of this organization may be the amount of information, which is a quantitative aspect of the orderliness of information. However, the information has a qualitative characteristic. This quality characteristic is the waveform. As an illustration, we give the following example. Imagine that you are in a dark room. Suddenly on the far wall dozens of lamps begin to glow. Which ones do you pay attention to first? Probably for those that do not have such a luminous intensity as the majority (the amount of information), or for those that have a special form of signaling, which differs from the surrounding sources of information (qualitative characteristic of the information). For example, a periodic pulsation, or electromagnetic waves of a different frequency, which give the light source a different color, or the location of the source away from most others, etc.

However, all the above examples and arguments lead us to one significant conclusion: the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of information are nothing but the method of the space-time organization of a signal. According to N. Wiener, precisely the space-time organization of the signal (ordering) is the linear invariant of the multidimensional physical world, which allows to achieve an identity between the set of elements of the information source and the set of media states. To implement this invariant, various codes can be used that not only allow to write multidimensional information in a linear form, but also provide an isomorphism between the set of source elements and the set of media states. What is the essence of this statement? In order to understand it, we give an example.

When we looked at the sensations, we talked about their modality and the physical nature of the stimuli that could cause certain sensations. Including we examined the nature of the auditory sensations. As you remember, the stimulus to the organ of hearing is sound, i.e., an acoustic wave caused by the colossus of the physical body and freely propagating in space. For our hearing organ, it has the form of one-dimensional, i.e., linear. However, having reached the organ of hearing, this acoustic wave provides us with information not only about the sound quality parameters (for example, timbre, height), but also about the spatial and temporal characteristics of its source. We are aware of where the sound is in space, how long the sound is. Why is this happening? The possibility of obtaining such information is due not only to the physiological characteristics of the organ of hearing, but also to the form of organization of the signal we receive, which, having a one-dimensional view, carries information about multidimensional characteristics. All this together and provides isomorphism of the source of information and the states of the media.

Chapter 17. Mental processes as structural elements of management ... • 427

What is isomorphism? From the point of view of cybernetics, isomorphism is the principle of the mutual ordering of two sets of states. Two sets are isomorphic if three conditions are satisfied.

First, each element x belonging to the set X (x є X) can be uniquely associated with the element y belonging to the set Y (y є Y), i.e. the element x corresponds to only one specific element y (x -> y and y-> x).

Secondly, each function?, Which expresses the relationship of two elements x i and x k belonging to the set X, can be uniquely associated with the function F, which expresses the ratio of the two elements y i and y k belonging to the set Y, i.e.? > F and F >? . The meaning of this condition is that the relationship between a pair of elements of one set must correspond to the ratio in the pair of elements of another set.

Thirdly, the condition must be satisfied that if x i є X corresponds to y i є Y , x k є X corresponds to y k є Y , x k = ? ( xi) and? > F, then for all x, y ,? , takes place: for k = F (for i). The meaning of this condition is that the correspondence of the relationship of a pair of elements of one set to that of a pair of another set must be ensured by a one-to-one correspondence of the elements of this set.

Let's use an example to try to give these conditions a psychological meaning. Imagine that you perceive a burning candle. If in the same room to light another candle, then you will perceive two candles. This means that each element of the set of objects in the real world (x) is uniquely associated with only one mental image (y), i.e., only one mental image will uniquely correspond to each of the candles that you perceive. Consequently, the condition x > y and y > x is fulfilled , that is, the candle as a physical object and its mental image are psycho-physiological correlates. In addition, we perceive the degree of closeness and differences between perceived physical objects. For example, the location in space, the size of objects and other physical characteristics. This means that the relation of physical objects of the real world is reflected by our psyche, that is, there is a similar relationship between mental images of perceived objects. Consequently, the second isomorphism condition of the sets is satisfied:? > F and F >? . Such a degree of conformity is possible only because there is indeed a complete unambiguous correspondence between objects in the real world and their mental images. Thus, the physical objects of the real world and their mental images are isomorphic, that is, our psyche is the carrier of adequate information about the world around us. Due to this, a person as a biological object receives information necessary for the regulation of his state and behavior.

However, in practice, things are not as simple as they appear in our theoretical fabrications. The information we receive from the outside world is multifaceted. It contains knowledge of the size of physical objects, the distance to them, the nature of their impact, and much more. All this information comes in the form of a certain linear signal-code and must be decoded. Moreover, the decoding of the relevant information should probably be

Fig. 17.3. Scales, levels of isomorphism (according to L. M. Vekker)

at the appropriate level. Therefore, L. M. Vekker speaks of the existence of a scale of isomorphism levels (Fig. 17.3). At each of these levels, an invariant of the corresponding space-time characteristic of the source of information is provided.

Another question that arises before each researcher is the problem of the interaction of a biological object and the physical world, is how the information about physical objects is translated into mental images. What are the biological and mental mechanisms that provide information about the external environment? Consider the general approaches to solving these issues.

17.3. Information structure of the nervous processes and mental images

As you know, the simplest mental process is sensation. Sensations are that initial area of ​​mental processes, which contains within itself the boundary separating mental and pre-psychic phenomena. Feelings of arising

cabins are not on their own. They are preceded by a series of non-mental and pre-mental processes.

Considering the problem of sensations, we have already talked about the mechanisms of their occurrence. For the emergence of sensations it is necessary to be influenced by objects of the real world. By the nature of its origin, this effect may be mechanical, chemical, electromagnetic, acoustic, etc., that is, non-mental. Man has senses that are adapted to the perception of a certain impact of natural objects. As a result of this interaction of the sensory organ and the natural object, information about the non-mental effect is encoded in the form of nervous excitement, that is, in the form of a physiological dopsychic process, which, having reached perceptual fields, turns into sensations. What is physiological arousal? What principles is the nerve signal coding based on?

The physiology of higher nervous activity and neurophysiology operate with two basic concepts, excitation and inhibition, which summarize the concept of two nervous processes existing in the cerebral cortex. However, the empirical picture of the neurophysiological reality does not contain indicators of the principle heterogeneity of the electrophysiological or physico-chemical substrate of excitation and inhibition. This suggests that in essence the neurophysiological activity of neurons is one. P.P. Markov writes: “Is there an intracellular inhibition process other than the intracellular excitation process? That is the question. After all, none of us have ever seen the impulses of inhibition, although we all many times stopped the beating heart with the stimuli of the vagus nerve. ” IM Sechenov also spoke about the unified nature of the processes of excitation and inhibition. He wrote: "The depression of reflexes is a product of excitation, and not of overexcitation of any nervous mechanisms." A similar point of view on the nature of physiological processes was held by A. A. Ukhtomsky and P. K. Anokhin.

So, physiological processes are one in nature. Moreover, at present the most common opinion is that the physiological process has a physicochemical nature, and the nerve impulse is electrical. Consequently, the impact of a physical object on the sense organ causes, in the latter, certain physicochemical reactions that generate an electrical impulse in the nerve fibers.

In modern neurophysiology, it is customary to distinguish two main, interrelated, but peer-to-peer, equal and independent forms of nervous excitement, which differ in electrogenic characteristics. The first form is discrete propagating excitation, expressed by fast and potentials or peaks. The second form is continuous non-propagating or locally propagating excitation, expressed by slow gradual potentials, mainly generated in receptors, synapses and central neurons (Fig. 17.4).

The first form of excitation is often called a digital pulse, because its main parameter of electrical activity, which is modulated

Fig. 17.4. Graph of discrete-impulsive excitation (A) and graph of variants of gradual excitation (B). Explanations in the text

varying characteristics of the stimulus, is the frequency of the pulse. The main quantitative parameter of this form of excitation is the number of pulses per unit of time, i.e. the number of peaks in a certain period of time, for example, per millisecond. Given the tremendous speed with which a nerve impulse of this type spreads through the nerve tissues (from 1 to 100 meters per second, depending on the diameter of the nerve fibers), one can imagine how large the frequency range of pulses per unit of time is. Therefore, this form of arousal is most likely used by the body to encode information about the intensity of exposure and other characteristics that can be digitally encoded.

The second form of nervous excitement is often called analog. Its main electrophysical parameters are amplitude and duration. The spread of this type of arousal is most often associated with the movement of the stimulus. Therefore, it is considered that with the help of this form of excitation the encoding of the space-time characteristics of the stimulus takes place.

Thus, it can be assumed that the principle of coding information about the effects of objects of the physical world on a biological object is based on a combination of two forms of nervous excitation, which has a physicochemical, that is, electrogenic nature. Consequently, the senses of a living organism are the “input unit” of the control circuit, in which non-mental information is encoded into the form of prepsychic processes, with the help of which it is delivered to the neuro-brain structures, where n is its transformation into mental processes. It is quite natural that the transformation of dpsychic processes into mental ones should be carried out on the basis of decoding information encoded in nerve impulses. How does this happen from the point of view of psychophysics?

Having set such a question before us, we came close to the problem, which we are not yet able to solve. There are currently no explanations for how

Names

Lange Nikolay Nikolaevich (1858-1921) - Russian psychologist, one of the founders of experimental psychology in Russia. Engaged in problems of perception, attention, memory, thinking. He formulated the concept of phase perception, suggesting a phase change from a more general nature to a particular one. He also developed the motor theory of attention, according to which the movement was considered as a condition not only accompanying, but also improving perception.

According to N. N. Lange, the main function of the psyche is “circular reaction”, including a centripetal current, informing the body of what has been achieved, and a centrifugal reaction (the answer to this message).

physical processes turn into mental images. We can only make assumptions about how this happens.

So, we know that certain senses, capable of perceiving energy of a certain type, are associated with certain sensory fields. Probably, the nerve impulse, reaching the corresponding part of the cortex, is decoded in the form of the corresponding sensory information. Для зрительных сенсорных полей это свет, для слуховых зон — звук и т. д. Подтверждением такого предположения являются опыты по электростимуляции различных участков коры головного мозга. Например, электростимуляция зрительных полей коры головного мозга вызывает у испытуемых образы света, а стимуляция слуховых полей — звуковые образы.

Как вы знаете, кроме модальности ощущения характеризуются пространственно-временными параметрами и интенсивностью. К числу пространственных характеристик относится локализация объекта, а к временным характеристикам — длительность воздействия раздражителя. Можно предположить, что для получения подобной информации в сенсорных полях коры головного мозга при декодировании поступающего сигнала учитывается не только характер нервного импульса, но и координаты нервного окончания, с которого поступил данный сигнал. Более того, при формировании информации о пространственных характеристиках раздражителя, вероятно, учитываются не только координаты нервных окончаний, но и интенсивность воздействия раздражителя на каждое из этих окончаний.

Еще более сложны механизмы формирования целостного перцептивного образа. Одним из первых исследований, посвященных процессу формирования перцептивного образа, была работа Н. Н. Ланге «Закон перцепции» (1894). В ходе экспериментальных исследований ему удалось установить, что от момента восприятия неопределенной структуры до полного адекватного отображения конкретной формы предмета объективно существует ряд фаз.

Истинность данного утверждения была доказана экспериментальными исследованиями перцептогенеза, проводимыми сотрудниками В. М. Бехтерева, а затем