Three Centuries of the History of Physiology at the Russian Academy of Sciences

Abstract

This article reviews the main stages in the development of physiological research at the St. Petersburg (USSR, Russian) Academy of Sciences. These studies began in 1725 when the Department of Anatomy and Physiology chaired by Daniel Bernoulli was established at the Academy of Sciences and Arts in St. Petersburg. L. Euler, J. Weitbrecht, and J. G. Duvernoy worked at this Department in the first years of its existence. In 1864, Academician F. V. Ovsyannikov organized the Physiological Laboratory at the Academy; in 1907 I. P. Pavlov became the head of this laboratory and, in 1925, it was reorganized into the Physiological Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences. In the 20th century, physiological institutes were created under the auspices of the Academy of Sciences in Moscow, Leningrad, and the USSR republics. The Division (“Otdelenie”) of Physiology of the USSR Academy of Sciences was organized in 1963. The physiological Institutes explored a wide range of problems, particularly in neurophysiology, physiology of sensory systems, and integrative physiology. The studies conducted by the Academy of Sciences Members L. Euler (eye optics), I. M. Sechenov (physiology of nervous system), and I. P. Pavlov (physiology of digestion) have retained their importance in the history of physiology. Pavlov was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1904. The research conducted by the physiologists working at the USSR Academy of Sciences laid the foundation for the development of gravitational, evolutionary, ecological, and clinical physiology