Bekhterev, Vladimir

Bekhterev, Vladimir (Mikhaylovich)

(born Feb. 1, 1857, Sorali, Vyatka, Russia—died Dec. 24, 1927, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R.) Russian neurophysiologist and psychiatrist. A competitor of Ivan Pavlov, Bekhterev independently developed a theory of conditioned reflexes. His most lasting work was in brain structure research and descriptions of nervous symptoms and illnesses. He discovered the superior vestibular nucleus (Bekhterev nucleus) and other brain formations and described spinal numbness (spondylitis deformans, or Bekhterev disease) and other diseases. He founded the first Russian journal on nervous diseases. His approach to the study of behaviour influenced the growing movement toward behaviourism in the U.S.