Vladimir Bekhterev

Vladimir Bekhterev was born in Sorali, a village in the Vyatka Governorate of the Russian Empire between the Volga River and the Ural Mountains. V. M. Bekhterev's father – Mikhail Pavlovich – was a district police officer; his mother, Maria Mikhailovna – was a daughter of a titular councilor, was educated at a boarding school which also provided lessons of music and the French language. Beside Vladimir they had two more sons in the family: Nikolai and Aleksandr, older than he by 6 and 3 years respectively. In 1864 the family moved to Vyatka, and within a year the head of the family died of tuberculosis when Bekhterev was still very young. While his childhood was not simple, Bekhterev did have the opportunity to attend Vyatka gymnasium in 1867, one of the oldest schools in Russia, as well as the Military Medical Academy in St. Petersburg in 1873. Then he studied in St. Petersburg Medicosurgical Academy where he worked under professor Jan Lucjan Mierzejewski (pl). It was here where Bekhterev's interest in the disciplines of neuropathology and psychiatry were first sparked. Then, on 4 April 1881, Bekhterev successfully defended his doctoral thesis, "Clinical studies of temperature in some forms of mental disorders," and received his doctorate from the Medicosurgical Academy of St. Petersburg. This doctorate allowed Bekhterev to become a "private-docent" or associate professor, where he lectured on the diagnostics of nervous diseases. ==Contribution to neurology==

Throughout his career, Bekhterev conducted a large amount of research which greatly contributed to the current understanding of the brain. This research was described in works such as The Conduction Paths in the Brain and Spinal Cord, written in 1882, followed by a second edition written in 1896. In 1884 he published 58 scientific works about the functions of the brain. His extensive research led to an 18-month travel scholarship awarded to study and conduct research in both Germany and Paris. During his time at the University of Kazan, Bekhterev made some of his greatest contributions to neurological science. He established the first laboratory of experimental psychology in Russia in 1886 to study the nervous system and the structures of the brain. As a result of his research, Bekhterev believed that there were zones within the brain and each of these zones had a specific function. Moreover, because nervous disorders and mental disorders usually occur in conjunction with each other, he believed that there was no definite distinction between these disorders. the first Russian journal on nervous disease. "Suggestion and its role in social life" is a book of its time, the turning of the nineteenth to the twentieth century. On the question of the so-called psychic epidemic (folie à deux, folie à millions...), the author refers Calmeil, Landel, Laségue, Falret, Legrand de Saule, Regnard, Baillarger, Moreau de Tours and Morel. Gustave Le Bon and Gabriel Tarde are also mentioned on the psychology of the crowds.. He stresses the difference between suggestion and hypnosis Bekhterev was interested in phenomena of direct mental suggestion and made experiments to influence behavior of dogs at distance (José Manuel Jara, 2013). Bekhterev's research on associated responses would become highly connected with the important area of psychology called Behaviorism. It also led to a long-standing rivalry with Ivan Pavlov, described in further detail below. ==Objective psychology==

Objective psychology is based on the principle that all behavior can be explained by objectively studying reflexes. Therefore, behavior is studied through observable traits. This idea contrasted the more subjective views of psychology such as structuralism, which allowed for the use of tools such as introspection to study inner thoughts about personal experiences. Objective Psychology would later become the basis of Reflexology, Gestalt Psychology, and especially behaviorism, an area which would later revolutionize the field of psychology and the manner in which the science of psychology is conducted. Bekhterev's beliefs about how to best conduct research contributed to the rise of Soviet sociolinguistics from the ashes of völkerpsychologie and the Journal of the History of the behavioral Sciences. ==Other contributions==

Bekhterev founded the Psychoneurological Institute at the St. Petersburg State Medical Academy; however, he was forced to resign in 1913 as a professor at the Military Medical Academy in St. Petersburg. He was reinstated in 1918 following the Russian Revolution of 1917 and became the chairperson for the Department of Psychology and Reflexology at the University of Petrograd in St. Petersburg as well as established the Institute of Studying Brain Mental Activities. During his time away from teaching, Bekhterev worked to open an orphanage, complete with both a kindergarten and school, for refugee children from the western regions of Russia. He also participated in creating health services in the "young country" of Russia. ==Rivalry with Ivan Pavlov==

Both Ivan Pavlov and Bekhterev independently developed a theory of conditioned reflexes which describe automatic responses to the environment. What was called association reflex by Bekhterev is called the conditioned reflex by Pavlov, although the two theories are essentially the same. Because John Watson discovered the salivation research completed by Pavlov, this research was incorporated into Watson's famous theory of Behaviorism, making Pavlov a household name. While Watson used Pavlov's research to support his Behaviorist claims, closer inspection shows that in fact, Watson's teachings are better supported by Bekhterev's research. Bekhterev was familiar with Pavlov's work and had multiple criticisms. According to Bekhterev, one of Pavlov's major research flaws included using a saliva method. He found fault with this method because it could not be easily used on humans. In contrast, Bekhterev's method of studying this association (conditioned) reflex using mild electrical stimulation to examine motor reflexes was able to demonstrate the existence of this reflex in humans. Bekhterev also questioned using acid to encourage saliva from the animals. He felt that this practice may contaminate the results of the experiment. Finally, Bekhterev criticized Pavlov's method by stating that the secretory reflex is unimportant and unreliable. If the animal is not hungry then food may not elicit the desired response, acting as evidence of the method's unreliability. Pavlov however was not without his own criticisms of Bekhterev, stating that Bekhterev's laboratory was poorly controlled. ==Death==

According to Moroz (1989) and Shereshevsky (1992), mystery surrounds the death of Bekhterev. Bekhterev was a co-founder of the First All-Russian Congress of Neurologists and Psychiatry, held in December 1927 in Moscow, and was appointed as an Honorary President of the Congress. On 23 December 1927, after having lectured on child neurology at the Congress, Bekhterev went to the Kremlin to examine Joseph Stalin. About 3 hours later he came back to the Congress for a meeting and said to some colleagues there: "I have just examined a paranoiac with a withered arm." The day after, Bekhterev suddenly died, causing speculation that he was poisoned by Stalin as revenge for the diagnosis. Moreover, after Bekhterev's death, Stalin had Bekhterev's name and all of his works removed from Soviet textbooks. ==Legacy==

Vladimir Bekhterev's contributions to science and specifically psychology were impressive. Bekhterev was a force in the science of neurology; greatly expanding knowledge on how the brain works as well as the parts of the brain. For instance, his research on the hippocampus allowed for the understanding of one of the most central portions of the brain vital to the function of memory. Moreover, his influence to psychology was immeasurable. Bekhterev's works laid the groundwork for the future of psychology. His ideas regarding Objective psychology as well as his views on reflexes were a cornerstone of behaviorism. According to a study conducted in 2015, Vladimir Bekhterev included in "Russia team on medicine". This list includes fifty-three famous Russian medical scientists from the Russian Federation, the Soviet Union, and the Russian Empire who were born in 1757—1950. Physicians of all specialities listed here. Among them Vladimir Demikhov, Sergei Korsakoff, Ivan Pavlov, Nikolay Pirogov, Victor Skumin. ==Overview of general findings==

Parts of the Brain: Other Accomplishments: • Bekhterev's Nucleus (Superior vestibular nucleus) • Bekhterev's Disease: Numbness of the spine • Over 800 publications • Reflexology: objective study of human behavior that studies the relationship between environmental stimuli and overt behavior • Bekhterev's Mixture: a medicine with a sedative effect. ==Publications==

• "Гипноз. Внушение. Телепатия (Монография)", В. М. Бехтерев, издательство "Мысль", г. Москва, 1994 г. • José Manuel Jara Preface of V. M. Bekhterev "Suggestion and its Role in Social Life" Italian edition, Psichiatria e Territorio, 2013 ==Further reading==