Ivan Petrovich Pavlov
(1849-1936)
Biography and inventions of Ivan Petrovich Pavlov
PROFFESOR Ivan Pavlov, Director of the
Institute of Experimental Medicine in St
Petersburg, was a very busy man. He had been
carrying out his experiments on trying to
understand the digestive process in dogs,
especially the link between salivation and the
action of the stomach. He had discovered that
without salivation, the stomach did not get the
message to start the digestive process.
Somehow, the nervous system acted in such a
way that the process of salivation sent signals
to the stomach. Pavlov, however, was not
satisfied with finding this link. He wanted to
know if any external stimulus could have an
effect on this process. So he tried several
experiments. And then one day he discovered
something that would make him a household
name. In one experiment, he rang a bell whenever the dogs were given food. Of
course, the dogs salivated at the sight and
small of food. After some time, no food was
given but yet the dogs would salivate when
the bell was rung. Pavlov had discovered the
conditioned reflex, a kind of action of the
nervous system, which plays a crucial role in
the understanding of animal and human
behavior. Experiments carried out by Pavlov
and his pupils revealed that conditioned
reflexes originate in the cerebral cortex. After
Pavlov's pioneering work many physiologists
became involved in developing Pavlov's basic
laws governing the activity of the cerebrum.
Pavlov was born at Ryazan in central Russia
in 1849. In 1881, Pavlov married a teacher
named Sara Karcheyskava. They had three
sons and a daughter. Pavlov lived and worked
at the Institute of Experimental Medicine till
his death in 1936. Pavlov is remembered as one of the greatest physiologist in the world
and he had many devoted pupils who
continued his work.
Facts at a Glance:
. Pavlov had a lifelong fascination with
physiology-the study of the physical and
chemical processes that take place in living
organisms during the performance of life
functions.
. He was the first person to discover the
fundamental role played by the nervous
system in regulating the process of digestion.
. His work on digestion led his to study the
responses of animals to various external
signals. This was when he discovered the
famous Pavlovian or continued reflex.
. Pavlov's work hard a major influence on the
science of behavioral psychology in the early
1920s.
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Instructor: Samiullah Zewak