Jerzy Konorski
Jerzy Konorski | |
---|---|
Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology |
Jerzy Konorski (1 December 1903 in
Secondary conditioned reflexes
When he and Stefan Miller were medical students in Warsaw they proposed another type of conditioned reflex in addition to that discovered by Pavlov which was under the control of reward. This has come to be known as "type II conditioned reflexes," or secondary conditioned reflexes Type II conditioned reflexes are now known as operant or instrumental conditioning.[2]
He spent two years at Pavlov's laboratory as the result of a letter that he sent to Pavlov describing this work. Pavlov however was never convinced that instrumental conditioning (which Konorski called "Type II" to distinguish it from Pavlov's "Type I" learning) differed in any important way from his own Type I conditioning.
An exchange between B. F. Skinner and Konorski also occurred over the two types of learning. Skinner had originally referred to operant conditioning as Type I and Pavlovian conditioning as Type II. Konorski agreed to revise his nomenclature to avoid confusion.
Neural plasticity
Konorski married the neurophysiologist
Konorski asked how pre-existing connections between neurons in the brain could be changed by conditioning. He suggested an idea similar to Hebb in which coincidental activation in time causes the potential connections to be transformed into actual excitatory connections. Inhibitory connections arise when the excitation of one input coincides in time with a decease in its associated connection.
Grandmother cells
Konorski first proposed two key concepts in neuroscience (independently of Western scientists who also suggested them). The grandmother cell of the West which Konorski called "gnostic unit."[4] This was developed in great detail in his 1967 book.
Publications
He was the author of two important books on learning, Conditioned Reflexes and Neuron Organization (1948), and Integrative Activity of the Brain (1967). The first book, presented one of the first theories of associative learning as a result of long-term neuronal plasticity. In the second, he substantially revised his early theories and synthesised work on associative learning and neurobiology of perception and motivation.
World War II and Stalin
The Department of Neurophysiology at the
Legacy
Later Konorski became a foreign member of the
See also
- List of Polish medical scientists
- Timeline of Polish science and technology
References
External links
- Bibliography of Jerzy Konorski Selected publications of Jerzy Konorski and history of the Department of Neurophysiology at Nencki Institute. (170MB in pdf files).
- Works by Jerzy Konorski at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)