INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY TODAY AND TOMORROW

Publisher Summary This chapter provides an overview of psychophysiology. The development of technologies for electrical exploration of the awake brain represented a decisive step in the study of the neuronal mechanisms of psychophysiological phenomena. Motor activities, autonomic responses, pleasure, punishment, aggressiveness, and other aspects of individual and social behavior could, thus, be investigated in unanesthetized behaving subjects. Electrical exploration of the brain is usually performed by stimulating determined cerebral points and observing the results. Maps identifying the location of motor, autonomic, and behavioral effects are useful, provided that the many experimental variables that influence results and the considerable redundancy of cerebral representation are known. The classical concept of brain centers is being replaced by the more realistic hypothesis of constellations of neuronal pools that participate in behavioral performance with a continuous play of forces, maintaining a dynamic equilibrium. The neuronal constellations that determine autonomic manifestations, food intake, aggression, and other types of behavior although influenced by many factors usually possess a basic reactivity with a set point that maintains the performance level and regulates neuronal sensitivity to sensory inputs.