Ivan Pavlov

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (Russian: Иван Петрович Павлов, IPA: [ɪˈvan pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈpavləf] ^ⓘ; 26 September [O.S. 14 September] 1849 – 27 February 1936) was a Russian and Soviet experimental neurologist and physiologist known for his discovery of classical conditioning through his experiments with dogs. Pavlov also conducted significant research on the physiology of digestion, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1904.

Pavlov was born on 26 September 1849, the first of ten children, in Ryazan, Russian Empire. His father, Peter Dmitrievich Pavlov (1823–1899), was a village Russian Orthodox priest. His mother, Varvara Ivanovna Uspenskaya (1826–1890), was a homemaker. As a child, Pavlov willingly participated in house duties such as doing the dishes and taking care of his siblings. He loved to garden, ride his bicycle, row, swim, and play gorodki; he devoted his summer vacations to these activities. Although able to read by the age of seven, Pavlov did not begin formal schooling until he was 11 years old, due to serious injuries he had sustained when falling from a high wall onto a stone pavement.

From his childhood days, Pavlov demonstrated intellectual curiosity along with what he referred to as "the instinct for research". He attended the Ryazan church school before entering the local theological seminary. Inspired by the progressive ideas which Dmitry Pisarev, a Russian literary critic of the 1860s, and Ivan Sechenov, the father of Russian physiology, were spreading, Pavlov abandoned his religious career without graduating and devoted his life to science.

In 1870, he enrolled in the physics and mathematics department at the University of Saint Petersburg to study natural science. In his fourth year, his first research project on the physiology of the nerves of the pancreas won him a prestigious university award. In 1875, Pavlov received the degree of Candidate of Natural Sciences. Impelled by his interest in physiology, Pavlov decided to continue his studies and proceeded to the Imperial Academy of Medical Surgery. While at the academy, Pavlov became an assistant to his former teacher, Elias von Cyon. He left the department when de Cyon was replaced by another instructor.

After some time, Pavlov obtained a position as a laboratory assistant to Konstantin Ustimovich at the physiological department of the Veterinary Institute. For two years, Pavlov investigated the circulatory system for his medical dissertation. In 1878, Professor Sergey Botkin, a clinician, invited Pavlov to work in the physiological laboratory as the clinic's chief. In 1879, he graduated from the Medical Military Academy with a gold medal for his research work. After a competitive examination, Pavlov won a fellowship at the academy for postgraduate work.

The fellowship and his position as director of the Physiological Laboratory at Botkin's clinic enabled Pavlov to continue his research work.^{[citation needed]} In 1883, he presented his doctor's thesis on the subject of The centrifugal nerves of the heart and posited the idea of nerves and the basic principles on the trophic function of the nervous system. Additionally, his collaboration with the Botkin Clinic produced evidence of a basic pattern in the regulation of reflexes in the activity of circulatory organs.^{[citation needed]}

He was inspired to pursue a scientific career by Dmitry Pisarev, a literary critic and natural science advocate and Ivan Sechenov, a physiologist, whom Pavlov described as "the father of physiology".

After completing his doctorate, Pavlov went to Germany, where he studied in Leipzig with Carl Ludwig and Eimear Kelly in the Heidenhain laboratories in Breslau. He remained there from 1884 to 1886. Heidenhain was studying digestion in dogs, using an exteriorized section of the stomach. However, Pavlov perfected the technique by overcoming the problem of maintaining the external nerve supply. The exteriorized section became known as the Heidenhain or Pavlov pouch.