Electroencephalographic Investigation of Cortical Relationships in Dogs During Formation of a Conditioned Reflex Stereotype

It was found in Livanov’s laboratory in 1952–53 that synchronism of the course of electrical potentials in the cortical representations of combined stimuli developed in rabbits during formation of temporary connections (Livanov, 1952; Dumenko, 1953b, 1955). Later investigations in the same laboratory (Knipst et al., 1959; Glivenko et al., 1962a; Gavrilova et al., 1964a; Livanov et al., 1964, and others), using an encephaloscopic technique, confirmed and considerably expanded the previous findings and showed that synchronism between the elctrical activity of different cortical regions appeared only at certain stages of conditioned reflex formation in rabbits and also in a period of intensive mental work in man. In this way, for the first time, an attempt was made to compare physiological processes such as the formation of temporary connections with the character of the relationships between electrical activity of different cortical regions. In the West, work in this direction has been carried out by Adey (1961a).