Neurohumoral Regulation of Emotions through the Eyes of a Russian Provincial Doctor

DOI

10.2991/ahsr.k.201001.043How to use a DOI?

Keywords

history of neuroendocrinology, history of neurohumoral regulation, history of neuropeptides, studies of emotions, Vladimir N. Speranskii, em-hormones

Abstract

This paper describes in detail Vladimir N. Speranskii’s theory of emotional hormones in the historical context of endocrinology, neuroscience and nascent neuroendocrinology of the first decades of the 20th century. The main idea of Speranskii’s theory, expounded in his four theoretical publications in the 1920s, was the existence of em-hormones, emotional hormones that could be the derivatives of the hormones. These agents, when released into blood, were postulated to be able to act on certain nervous elements of the brain and evoke emotional responses. Speranskii stressed the important role of the enzymes that break down em-hormones. This amazingly insightful theory was formulated at the time of crisis in endocrinology and the persistent schism between this discipline and neuroscience. The paper outlines the emergence of neuroendocrinology and the early development of neuroendocrinological ideas and studies in Russia. Speranskii’s theory went largely unnoticed or was criticised and even ridiculed. Therefore, this paper attempts to restore V.N. Speranskii to his rightful place in the history of science, particularly in the history of neuroendocrinology

Copyright

© 2020, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Maria Klavdieva
PY  - 2020
DA  - 2020/10/03
TI  - Neurohumoral Regulation of Emotions through the Eyes of a Russian Provincial Doctor
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference “Health and wellbeing in modern society” (ICHW 2020)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 212
EP  - 216
SN  - 2468-5739
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/ahsr.k.201001.043
DO  - 10.2991/ahsr.k.201001.043
ID  - Klavdieva2020
ER  -