Pavlov's concept of schizophrenia as related to the theory of higher nervous activity

Abstract

Mental disorders were studied intensely by I. P. Pavlov during the last six years of his life. He was greatly interested in the nature of, and therapy for, schizophrenia, and saw at least 45 cases diagnosed as schizophrenic at the Psychiatric Clinic located at the Balinskii Hospital in Leningrad. Pavlov did not perform experiments in the Clinic, but observed schizophrenic behaviour in collaboration with psychiatrists. He explained the behaviour of schizophrenics in terms of his theory of higher nervous activity: that is, he focused on the function of the brain of higher animals in their interaction with the external environment. He thought that schizophrenia was the response of a 'weak' genotype to traumatic environmental events. The cortex of schizophrenics, with the exception of catatonia, was overwhelmed by neural excitation which resulted in irrational or non-adaptive activity. Pavlov proposed that therapy of schizophrenia should consist of rest and prolonged sleep induced by soporific substances. His theory of schizophrenia did not become widely known and may be considered to be mainly of historical interest.