Role of subcortical structures in the process of conditioning

This article presents experimental data from the Laboratory for the Physiology of Higher Nervous Activity, along with the results of the studies of a number of Russian and foreign authors on the importance of subcortical structures in processes of higher nervous activity. The contribution of the basal ganglia, thalamic nuclei, amygdaloid body, hippocampus, hypothalamus, and other subcortical structures to the organization of various forms of conditioned reflexes are discussed from the point of view of the systems organization of conditioned reflexes. Special attention is paid to the important role of motivational-emotional and dominant mechanisms in the processes of conditioning. Consideration of these data suggest two tendencies in studies of the role of subcortical structures. One direction is largely associated with studies of the physiological mechanisms of behavior, and the second with studies of its psychological basis. Both directions search for their own ways of recognizing regularities in brain function and in the systems organization of behavior, thought, and consciousness.