I. M. Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry

Last updated

The I. M. Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry (IEPHB) is a facility in Saint Petersburg, Russia, dedicated to research in the fields of biochemistry and evolutionary physiology.

Contents

History

The Institute was founded as a research group in October 1950 by Leon Orbeli, a physiologist and a longtime collaborator with Ivan Pavlov. [1] Initially, Orheli's research group included eight people. It subsequently expanded and transformed into the Laboratory of Evolutionary Physiology of the USSR Academy of Sciences, with the main object of studying functions of the nervous system in animals and man during ontogenesis, and also the effects of ionizing radiation on animals.

In 1956, the Laboratory became an Institute with Orbeli serving as the first Director of Evolutionary Physiology of the Academy of Sciences. The new Institute was named after Ivan Sechenov. By the end of 1957, the Institute numbered 9 laboratories, one of them being transferred from the former P.F. Lesgaft Institute for Natural Sciences.

After Leon Orbeli's death in 1958, the Institute was headed by his collaborator Professor Alexander Ginetsinsky. From June 1960 to March 1975, the Institute was guided by Eugenie Kreps: a former pupil of Ivan Pavlov and collaborator of Orbeli's, Kreps is known for his fundamental studies in the field of comparative physiology and biochemistry of the nervous system. Kreps successfully promoted research in evolutionary biochemistry. In response, in 1964, the Institute adopted its current name, I. M. Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry.

In November 1969, a monument to Academician Orbeli was erected in front of the first laboratory block on Maurice Thorez Prospect.

From 1975 to 1981 Institute was headed by Vladimir Govyrin, and from 1981 to 2004 by Vladimir Svidersky. Since 2004, the Institute has been headed by N. P. Vesselkin, Corresponding Member of RAS, a distinguished neuroscientist, and head of the Laboratory of Neuronal Interaction.

Journal of Evolutionary Biochemistry and Physiology

The Institute is publisher of the Journal of Evolutionary Biochemistry and Physiology (ISSN 0022-0930) which is abstracted in the Chemical Abstracts. The journal is also available online by subscription only (online ISSN 1608-3202). Contents and abstracts are available online in PDF format.

See also

Related Research Articles

Physiology Science of the function of living systems

Physiology is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical and physical functions in a living system. According to the classes of organisms, the field can be divided into medical physiology, animal physiology, plant physiology, cell physiology, and comparative physiology.

Ivan Pavlov Russian physiologist (1849–1936)

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov was a Russian physiologist known primarily for his work in classical conditioning.

Oleg Gazenko Soviet scientist and general officer

Oleg Georgievich Gazenko was a Russian scientist, general officer in the Soviet Air Force and the former director of the Institute of Biomedical Problems in Moscow. One of the leading scientists behind the Soviet animals in space programmes, he selected and trained Laika, the dog who flew on the Sputnik 2 mission.

Vladimir Bekhterev Russian neurologist

Vladimir Mikhailovich Bekhterev was a Russian neurologist and the father of objective psychology. He is best known for noting the role of the hippocampus in memory, his study of reflexes, and Bekhterev’s disease. Moreover, he is known for his competition with Ivan Pavlov regarding the study of conditioned reflexes.

Leon Orbeli

Leon Abgarovich Orbeli was an Armenian physiologist active in the Russian SFSR. He was a member of the Academies of Science of USSR and Armenian SSR. Leon Orbeli became director of the Institute of Physiology in 1950.

Armenian National Academy of Sciences

The National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia is the primary body that conducts research and coordinates activities in the fields of science and social sciences in Armenia.

Pyotr Kuzmich Anokhin was a Soviet and Russian biologist and physiologist, known for his theory of functional systems and the concept of systemogenesis. He made important contributions to cybernetics and psychophysiology. His pioneering concept on feedback was published in 1935.

Ivan Sechenov Russian physiologist and psychologist

Ivan Mikhaylovich Sechenov, was a Russian physiologist. Ivan Pavlov referred to him as the "Father of Russian physiology and scientific psychology". Sechenov is also considered one of the originators of objective psychology.

First Moscow State Medical University University in Russia

First Moscow State Medical University is the oldest medical university in Russia, located in Moscow.

Pavlov's typology of higher nervous activity was the first systematic approach to the psychophysiology of individual differences. Ivan Pavlov's ideas of nervous system typology came from work with his dogs and his realization of individual differences. His observations of the dogs led to the idea of excitation and inhibition in the nervous system, and Pavlov theorized that the strength of these processes in the nervous system will determine whether the subject will have a strong or weak nervous system. This theory has influenced research in the field of social psychology and personality.

Evolutionary physiology Study of changes over time in a populations physiological characteristics in response to natural selection

Evolutionary physiology is the study of the biological evolution of physiological structures and processes; that is, the manner in which the functional characteristics of individuals in a population of organisms have responded to natural selection across multiple generations during the history of the population. It is a sub-discipline of both physiology and evolutionary biology. Practitioners in the field come from a variety of backgrounds, including physiology, evolutionary biology, ecology, and genetics.

Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science

Tribhuvan University's Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS) is the oldest institute in Nepal which provides higher education in agriculture and animal science.

Natalia Petrovna Bekhtereva was a Soviet and Russian neuroscientist and psychologist who developed neurophysiological approaches to psychology, such as measuring the impulse activity of human neurons. She was a participant in the documentary films The Call of the Abyss and Storm of Consciousness, which aroused wide public interest. Candidate of Biological Sciences, Doctor of Medicine, Full Professor.

Vladimir Aleksandrovich Govyrin was Soviet and Russian physiologist, Academician of Academy of Sciences of USSR and Russian Academy of Sciences, who discovered regularity of the sympathetic innervation of the circulatory system of the vertebrates. He offered the concept of universal participation of vascular nerves in humoral transfer of the sympathetic influence on tissue. He also discovered the method of sympathetic nervous system influences the skeletal muscle. Govyrin found out that sympathetic influences to skeletal tissue are made by catecholamines, emitted by vascular nerves.

The Pavlovian session was the joint session of the USSR Academy of Sciences and the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences held on June 28 to July 4, 1950. The session was organized by the Soviet Government headed by Joseph Stalin in order to fight Western influences in Russian physiological sciences. During the session, a number of Ivan Pavlov's former students attacked another group of his students whom they accused of deviating from Pavlov's teaching. As the result of this session, Soviet physiology excluded itself from the international scientific community for many years.

Ivane Beritashvili Georgian physiologist

Ivane Beritashvili, was one of the great Georgian physiologists, one of the founders of the modern biobehavioral science. He was a founder and director of a school of physiology in Georgia; academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1939), founding member of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR (1944) and of the Academy of Sciences of the Georgian SSR (1941). In 1964 Beritashvili received Hero of Socialist Labor award. For more than a half-century of his activity, Beritashvili was considered a leader among neurophysiologists of Central and Eastern European countries and the former Soviet Union. In the study of higher brain functions he tried to bridge the gap between physiology and psychology and did much to bring them closer together. In 1958–1960 together with Herbert Jasper and Henri Gastaut, he was one of the founders of the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO).

S. M. Kirov Military Medical Academy

The S. M. Kirov Military Medical Academy is the oldest higher education institution of military medicine in Saint Petersburg and the Russian Federation. Senior medical staff are trained for the Armed Forces and conduct research in military medical services.

Aleksandr Nikolaevich Promptov was a Russian and Soviet geneticist and ornithologist who studied bird calls, made recordings and suggested the role of vocalization and behavior in isolation and speciation.

References

  1. "About Institute". IEPHB website. Archived from the original on 2007-03-04. Retrieved 2007-02-21.