Human Anatomy and Physiology - I. V. Gayvoronsky 2011

Higher Nervous Activity
Types of Higher Nervous Activity

Every human being is unique. People differ from one another not only in physical traits, but also in psychological characteristics. The psyche is a reflection of a person's inner world, rooted in the brain. It is the brain that drives the complex of processes forming the psyche. The output of this psychological activity is human behavior and individual reactions to various situations.

Even Hippocrates noted behavioral differences among people, attributing them to the predominance of certain bodily "fluids": Blood, phlegm, yellow Bile, and black bile. Today, it is well established that these behavioral variations stem from types of Higher Nervous Activity. However, the functioning of The Nervous system—and consequently the type of higher nervous activity—also depends on humoral factors, namely the levels of Hormones and BIOLOGICALLY ACTIVE SUBSTANCES in the blood.

The type of higher nervous activity refers primarily to innate, individual properties of Central nervous system functioning. This concept should not be confused with temperament, which is the behavioral manifestation of a person's higher nervous activity type. While the former is a physiological concept, the latter is largely psychological. I. P. Pavlov believed that the fundamental TYPES OF HIGHER nervous activity correspond to the four temperament types originally identified by Hippocrates.

The Specific features of nervous processes and The properties of higher nervous activity are defined by such concepts as strength, balance, and mobility. Strength is determined by the intensity of Excitation and Inhibition processes in the brain. Balance is characterized by the ratio between these processes. Mobility refers to the speed at which excitation processes can be replaced by inhibition, and vice versa.

In terms of strength, higher nervous activity is categorized into strong and weak types; in terms of balance, into balanced and unbalanced; and in terms of mobility, into mobile and inert.

Depending on the characteristics of these nervous processes, four MAIN TYPES OF higher nervous activity and four corresponding types of temperament are distinguished.

The correlation between various types of higher nervous activity and temperaments is illustrated in Table 16.2.

What characteristics define each of these temperaments? Choleric individuals are volatile, highly emotional people with rapidly shifting moods; they are extremely active, energetic, and quick to react to various stimuli. Sanguine individuals possess greater emotional balance. Their reactions are fast, and their moods also fluctuate frequently, though less intensely than those of choleric individuals. Phlegmatic individuals stand out for their unwavering calmness, slowness, and self-control. As a rule, their moods are stable, and sharp, impulsive reactions are uncharacteristic of them, with minimal emotional expression. Melancholic individuals are emotional, easily hurt, sensitive, and shy, often experiencing a depressed mood.

Class="center">Table 16.2 Characteristics of Types of Higher Nervous Activity

It should be noted that strictly categorizing all people into just four temperament types is impossible. Combinations of traits from different temperaments are much more common.

Character is a set of stable personality traits that shape emotional responses and behavior, representing a unique combination of psychological properties. A person's character is formed on The basis of innate individual Properties of the nervous system under METABOLISM/18.html">The Influence of upbringing and environment. Character typically reaches its final maturation around the age of 23–25, although changes can still occur later in life. Specific behavioral patterns are referred to as character traits. These include modesty, shyness, self-criticism, tidiness, courage, laziness, infantilism, sensitivity, and so on. These and other traits are expressed differently in every individual. Notably, character self-improvement and the deliberate development of necessary traits are entirely possible.

A pronounced prominence of certain character traits is known as accentuation. Accentuated personalities react to various events in a distinctive way, unlike the general population. At the same time, in certain situations, character accentuation helps individuals overcome challenges that might be overwhelming for others. According to some researchers, the majority of people exhibit various degrees of specific character accentuations.