THE THEORY OF FUNCTIONAL SYSTEMS AS A BASIS OF SCIENTIFIC WAYS TO COPE WITH EMOTIONAL STRESS

K.V.Sudakov P.K.Anokhin Institute of Normal Physiology, Academy of Medical Sciences, Russia, Moscow

The systemic approach has become widely used not only in biology, but also in other fields of science, such as mathematics, philosophy, sociology, economics, psychology and others.

In the 1960's a Canadian biologist L. von Bertalanffy, formulated a theory of biological systems, describing them as an "arrayed multitude of inter-linked elements" [2].

At the same time, the very notion of "system" introduced by L.Bertalanffy and his followers, as well as the general theory of systems developed by them, did not give the answer to the question of what caused individual elements to form systemic entities.

Being an "arrayed multitude of elements", the above mentioned systems do not actively function and present just only a multitude of inter-connected phenomena.

Thus, the very concept of a system needed a more profound specification of its properties, operational architectonics, and, primarily, its system-forming factor that would transfer an arrayed multitude of actively functioning elements on the level of a functioning system.

The concept of "a functional system" formulated by P.K.Anokhin (1935) perfectly complied with the requirements [3].

Functional systems are dynamic, self-organizing and autoregulatory central-peripheral organizations the activity of which is aimed at achieving adaptive results useful for the system and the organism as a whole.

A multitude of useful adaptive results that form different functional systems are present on metabolic, homeostatic and behavioral levels defining optimal for vital activity metabolism and adaptation of the organism to the environment [4].

There are two principally important features that make the Anokhin theory of functional systems essentially different from the general theory of systems developed by L.Bertalanffy and his disciples. They are the following:

1. Useful adaptive results, which are system-forming factors in functional systems and play a crucial role in the process of multi-component association into functional systems providing various manifestations of the organism's adaptive activity.
2. Dynamic, operational architectonics with compulsory reverse afferentation signaling into the central nervous system from the result of its activity.

Functional systems of any organizational level have a similar structural design and include the following common and shared by different systems peripheral and central principal mechanisms : 1. Useful adaptive result as a main functional system component; 2. The result's receptors; 3. Reverse afferentation coming from the result's receptors into the central units of the functional system; 4. Center representing nervous elements of different level selectively associated by the functional system into special system mechanisms; 5. Executive somatic, autonomic, immunologic and endocrine components including organized goal-directed behavior. Since in principle different functional systems of the body are uniformly designed, they are rightly considered to be isomorphic [4].

In functional systems of behavioral and psychic levels of organization, the external link of autoregulation is dynamic environment-oriented behavioral activity of living beings aimed at the environment adaptation in accordance with body needs and at the achievement of behavioral results able to satisfy corresponding body needs and eventually to secure its survival. Therefore, the environment naturally participates in the activity of many functional systems of the organism. Only through body interaction with the environment these functional system acquire the results beneficial for the organism.

In a functional system, every shift of result as well as its optimal for the metabolism level is continuously perceived by corresponding receptors. Signals ("reverse afferentation" according to P.K.Anokhin) born in receptors come to the corresponding centers and selectively involve various level elements into the given functional system in order to give rise to its executive activity and thus restore the result needed for metabolism.

Reverse afferentation is the background of autoregulatory processes in any functional system.

Excitation of nervous centers occurs in a functional system of behavioral and psychic levels of organization on the basis of reverse afferentation presented by nervous impulses and humoral effects from the result.

The concept "reverse afferentation" was introduced into physiology by P.K. Anokhin 12 years before N. Winner, who as is well known has formulated the notion about "feedback".

Through formulating the notion of "reverse afferentation" P.K.Anokhin established a recognized priority in the field of living beings' cybernetics.

Independent of its structural complexity, any functional system has similar central architectonics. Central architectonics of the functional systems includes the following principal stages consecutively replacing each other: afferent synthesis, decision making, acceptor of action's result, efferent synthesis, and, finally, assessment of the achieved result [1].

The structure of behavioral level in functional systems is similar. The initial stage in the structure of behavioral level of a functional system is afferent synthesis. At this stage, the central nervous system experiences the synthesis of excitations caused by inner metabolic need, by environmental and trigger afferentation, with constant utilization of genetic and individually acquired memory mechanisms. The afferent synthesis stage terminates with a decision making stage, which physiologically restricts the functional system activity freedom rate and selects the only effector action line able to satisfy the leading organism's requirement formed at the afferent synthesis stage.

The next stage in the dynamics of consecutive central architectonics development taking place simultaneously with effector action formation is the stage of predicting the required result of the functional system activity, i.e. the acceptor of action's result. At this stage of the functional system central organization, the programming of the principal parameters of the required result and their constant assessment based on reverse afferentation of the achieved result parameters takes place. When a significant result satisfying the initial organism need is achieved the activity of the functional system decreases. And vice versa, if the achieved result parameters do not correspond to the parameters of the acceptor of action's result, there occurs a mismatch, i.e. orientating searching reaction; afferent synthesis is restructured, a new decision is made, and the functional system follows in a new direction required for the initial need satisfaction.

Effector action is preceded by the efferent synthesis stage, when an executive act is center-formed as a certain central excitation complex and is not accomplished peripherally as particular actions.

All stages of achievement of organism-beneficial results and their various states are continuously assessed through reverse afferentation. Reverse afferentation arises when respective receptors are stimulated by result parameters and via respective afferent nerves and humoral factors arrives in structures forming the acceptor of action's result. If reverse afferentation bears no valuable information concerning the optimal result level, the nervous cells of the acceptor of action's result are excited, a new afferent synthesis takes place and a new action occurs.

The number of functional systems reflecting various aspects of the whole organism vital activity is extremely high. The activity of some functional systems affects different characteristics of the organism's internal milieu - homeostasis, and the processes of homeokinesis leading to it. Other functional systems through their activity modify living beings' behavior, their interaction with the environmental and social factors to pursue different forms of social activity, for instance, to start a family, to organize household and place of work. Finally arises the need to build the society in the best possible way, and so on. Organism's functional systems of different levels are shown in their hierarchic relations [5].

Each functional system presents a dynamic autoregulatory organization. The central point of functional systems found at different organizational levels is an organism-beneficial adaptive result. Any deviation of the result from the level ensuring normal life of the body is immediately perceived by receptor mechanisms, and by way of nervous and humoral reverse afferentation special central mechanisms are selectively engaged. By these executive means, including behavior, the latter mechanisms once again bring the useful adaptive result to the level necessary for normal metabolism. All these processes go on continuously while the functional system center is permanently informed of the successful achievement of the useful adaptive result, i.e. in compliance with the autoregulatory principle.

Dynamics of the work of functional systems of different levels of organization: metabolic, homeostatic, behavioral and psychic is built by discrete "system quanta". Every system quanta is formed by the initial need and aimed at satisfaction of that need [8].

System quanta are disclosed externally by the results of satisfaction of organisms needs.

System quanta may be recognized at different levels of life activity. These levels extend in their hierarchy from genes and functional systems of autonomic regulations to zoo-social populations of animals and societies of people.

System quanta of a human behavior and mental activities are organized through interaction of a dominating motivation and other components of central system architecture: acceptor of action results, goal-directed behavior, intermediate and final results satisfying or, on the contrary, not satisfying initial needs of the organism.

A conflict situation when the subjects can not satisfy their basic needs in order to achieve the essential results generates a psychoemotional stress which leads to disorders in the most debilitated functional systems of a human. At first the intersystem connections and then the mechanisms of selfregulation of the most debilitated functional system are violated. As a result emotional stress leads to different psychosomatic disorders [5].

Our long lasting experiments on animals showed that psychoemotional stress brings about primary changes in neurochemical properties of brain and only then, as a secondary, in particular, peripheral axis - hypophysis - adrenals, discovered by H.Selye, comes into action.

Scientific-technical progress, social, ecological and military conflicts for sure lay the foundation for psychoemotional stress in humans.

Most of their lives people spend at work, where a person is often exposed to stress loads. Some factors may cause emotional stress, among them: excessive technological demands to workers, poor control of the technological situation, in particular, impossibility to improve or change production process, low level of social support and, finally, the limited psychological and physiological abilities of workers.

Daily psycho-emotional stress at work leads to dysfunction i.e. to violation of physiological rhythms, impermeability of tissue barrier and mechanisms of self-regulation of physiological functions. Under sustained stress loads these dysfunctions summing up transfer into various psychosomatic diseases. Therefore an early diagnostics of dysfunctions caused by stress is important for prevention of psychosomatic diseases in humans.

Production rhythm set by technological process is most significant.

In case a technological rhythm corresponds to the biological rhythms of different functional systems when physiological abilities of workers are adequate to production requirements the workers demonstrate good production results. When physiological functions of people at work do not correspond to the rhythm of the productive activity (set by technological process), when there is no harmony between the rhythm of a productive activity and that of physiological parameters the workers experience psychoemotional strain. In this case, as a result of conflict between production requirements and human physiological capacity, psychoemotional stress arises, which develops into a steady form at certain stages. At first, the links between separate functional systems are violated, temporary impairment of individual functional systems appear and then these dysfunctions transform into pathological cases and various psychosomatic diseases: different kinds of neurosis and psychosis, immunodeficiency, hormonal dysfunction, cardiovascular disorders, ulceration of the gastrointestinal tract, and others. Production injury rate also increases. The theory of functional systems, oriented to the useful for the organism and, in particular, socially significant results, opens new perspectives for early diagnostics of stress.

In order to achieve social results the functional systems of workers of metabolic and homeostatic levels unite into complex hierarchic, multi-parametric and successive interactions. Their coordinated activity determines the optimal psychological state of a subject at work and thus allows the subject to achieve socially significant productive results.

The theory of functional systems shows new approaches to estimation of emotional stress in humans at work.

According to this theory any production activity of a person can be divided into separate resultant "system-quanta", at that, every system-quantum is determined by a cumulative activity of functional systems of behavioral and homeostatic levels. Every system-quantum includes: the origin of this or that biological and social need, formation on its base a dominant motivation and due to achievement of intermediate and final results terminates in satisfaction of that need.

The estimation of system physiological parameters at work in accordance with the results of the workers' activities is performed by contact or telemetric method according to intermediate and end results of system-quanta in production activity.

The so-called "physiological price" of system-quanta of the production activity of some workers is defined by the changes of respiration and heart rates, muscle activity, skin-galvanic reactions and other parameters, registered during the work. Our observations showed that the coefficient of correlation of heart and respiration rates in this case reliably reflected the state of psycho-emotional stress in workers [6].

The investigations showed pronounced individual variations in the physiological parameters which are responsible for the fulfillment of typical production system quanta in different workers. The most vividly the individual variations of somatic providing of system-quanta of workers' productive activity manifest themselves as changes of regularity in respiration and heart rhythms and their synchronization. It made possible to single out two groups of workers. The first group exhibited close cross-correlation of heart and respiration rhythms with production results. The second group showed asynchronism in heart and respiration rhythms and the lack of their connection to the results of the productive activity. The workers of the 1st group comprised 20% and those of the second group - 80% of the tested population.

As a rule the 1st group consisted of high skilled workers and system-quanta of their productive activity on the whole corresponded to the technological rhythm. The workers whose heart and respiration rates were well correlated and corresponded to intermediate and final results of "system-quanta" did not manifest any psycho-emotional stress or fatigue and showed good productive results. The workers whose heart rate and respiration rate were not synchronized and did not correspond to the intermediate and final results of system-quanta of productive activity complain of psycho-emotional stress and fatigue. Many days' ECG monitoring registered arrhythmia and extrasystoles in that group of workers. They showed low productivity, higher morbidity rate and often retired prematurely despite their high motivation for work.

The test data indicate that the theory of functional systems opens up new prospects for determining the "physiological price" of resultant system quanta at workplace and for identifying emotional stress at workplace on the basis of correlation between rhythmic cardiac activity in agreement with the rhythm of production process.

Our observations testify that psycho-emotional stress appears at work in all those cases when physiological functions of a worker do not correspond to the rhythm of production activity set by technological process, when there is no harmony between the rhythms of the main physiological parameters and the rhythms of the productive activity and synchronization of heart rate and respiration rate is disturbed.

These data show that badly trained workers having a low value of correlation coefficient of heart and respiration rates in accordance with the results of their production activity showed a psycho-emotional stress. To the workers who vividly manifested psychoemotional stress at work we successfully practiced some methods of non-medicamental rehabilitation [6, 8].

References

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2. Bertalanffy L. von. (1967). General theory of systems application to physiology. Social Sci., Inform. Sci., Socials, 6(6), p. 126.
3. Egiazaryan G.G., Sudakov K.V. (2007). Theory of Functional Systems in Scientific School of P.K.Anokhin. J. of the History of the Neurosciences, 16, pp.1-12.
4. Sudakov K.V. (1997). The theory of functional systems: general postulates and principles of dynamic organization. Integr. Physiol. And Behav. Sci., 32, pp. 392-414.
5. Sudakov K.V. (2006). Functional Systems of Living Beings in Biology. nphys.cplire.ru/index_en.html.
6. Sudakov K.V., Glazachev, O.S. (2001). Multiple physiological assessment of long-term stress at work and in daily life: a system approach in everyday biological stress mechanisms. Adv. Psychosom. Med. Basel Congress, 22. Everyday Biological Stress Mechanisms. Volume ed. T. Theorell. (pp. 61-70). Karger.
7. Sudakov K.V., Lazetic B., Grujic N. (1998). Bases of theory of functional systems-perspectives. Basic and clinical aspects of theory of functional systems (Eds. by B.Lazetic and K.V.Sudakov). Novi Sad: Med. Faculty Univ.( pp.7-16)
8. Sudakov K.V., Oumrioukhin E.A. (2005). System quanta of Universe. Frontier Perspectives, 14(2), pp. 19-29.