The Dominant as a Working Principle of Nerve Centers (English Translation of the 1923 Classic)

Description (English): This publication presents a digital, normalized edition and complete English translation of the foundational 1923 work by Academician Aleksei A. Ukhtomsky, The Dominant as a Working Principle of Nerve Centers. Ukhtomsky introduces a revolutionary shift in neurophysiology: the functional role of a central nervous structure is not an immutable, statically predetermined property, but a dynamic function of its prevailing physiological state. The doctrine defines the dominant (dominanta) as a persistent constellation and focus of heightened excitability that corroborates and absorbs newly arriving impulses from disparate peripheral and central inputs while exerting conjugated, diffuse inhibition across competing nervous centers. The work bridges experimental reflex physiology, systemic neurodynamics, and the biological foundations of higher mental functions, covering: Dynamic functional shifts of cortical and spinal motor apparatuses under shifting autonomic states. The mechanisms of corroboration, facilitation (Bahnung), and systemic summation in excitable tissue. Non-parabiotic and reciprocal forms of central coordinating inhibition. Distance reception, anticipatory behavioral posturing, and organism-level motor integration. Neurophysiological mechanisms underpinning selective attention and the concentration of conscious focus. A three-phase physiological model for the formation of object-oriented thinking and perceptual categorization. The persistence of latent cortical traces, subconscious ideation, and the dynamics of suppressed psychic complexes. Published as part of the Buteyko Method Heritage community repository.