Neurophysiology

Neurophysiology is a branch of physiology that studies the functions of the nervous system , along with neuromorphological disciplines. Neurophysiology is the theoretical basis of neurology ^[1] . It is closely related to neurobiology , psychology , neurology , clinical neurophysiology , electrophysiology , ethology , neuroanatomy and other sciences that study the brain ^[2] .

Neurophysiology is a special section of physiology that studies the activity of the nervous system , arose much later. Almost until the second half of the 19th century, neurophysiology developed as an experimental science based on the study of animals. Indeed, the “lower” manifestations of the activity of the nervous system are the same in animals and humans. Such functions of the nervous system include the transition of excitation from one nerve cell to another (e.g., nervous, muscle, glandular), simple reflexes (e.g., flexion or extension of the limb), perception of relatively simple light, sound, tactile and other stimuli, and many others. Only at the end of the XIX century, scientists began to study some of the complex functions of respiration , maintaining the constancy of the composition of the blood, tissue fluid, and some others. In carrying out all these studies, scientists did not find significant differences in the functioning of the nervous system as a whole, or its parts in humans and animals, even very primitive ones. For example, at the dawn of modern experimental physiology, a frog was a favorite object. Only with the discovery of new research methods (primarily electrical manifestations of the nervous system) did a new stage begin in the study of brain functions , when it became possible to study these functions without destroying the brain , without interfering with its functioning, and at the same time study its higher manifestations activity - the perception of signals, the functions of memory , consciousness and many others.

Neurophysiology as a science that studies the functions of the nervous system and its structure is closely connected with neuroanatomy, neurobiology , neuropsychology , electrophysiology and other sciences that study the brain . The task of neuroscience is to explain human behavior , to understand how the brain controls millions of nerve cells to form behavior and how the external environment influences these cells ^[3] .

The goal of neurophysiology is to form an idea of ​​the functional organization of the nervous system , the neural mechanisms of the organization of reflex behavior and the principles of the systemic organization of brain functions ^[4] .

Surgical neurophysiology is an applied neurophysiology. During the operation, a neurophysiologist surgeon monitors the functioning of the patient’s nervous system , which sometimes requires an electrophysiological study of the patient’s nervous system . This observation is part of an extensive clinical discipline called neuromonitoring .