Pokrovsky N.B., Slanevskaya N.M. (2009)
Chernigovskaya T.V.(2008)
Bekhtereva N.P.(2000)
Medvedev S.V. (2000)
Subbota A.G.(1999)
Interviews
1.
Pokrovsky N.B., Slanevskaya N.M., "The Fundamental Basis for the 
Socio-Economic Stability", the interview taken by the editors of the journal Personality and Culture, 2009, St.Petersburg, No 2, pp. 42-46, 2009 (in Russian) www.lichnost-kultura.narod.ru
Nickolay B. Pokrovsky – Managing Director of ZAO Humanitarian Foundation, member of the Directors’ Board of the St.Petersburg Union of Entrepreneurs, Editor-in-chief of the journal Personality and Culture, expert at the Russian Academy of Sciences, member of the Artistic Expert Council at the Leningrad Region Government.
Nina M. Slanevskaya – Director of the St.Petersburg Centre for Interdisciplinary Neuroscience.
Ed. - Nina Mikhailovna, Nickolay Borisovich, what is the aim of the conference which you suggest?
Pokrovsky – The aim is, of course, first of all, a successful dealing with the current crisis. But this crisis is a today’s problem. We see the means which will allow us to avoid them in the future, at least, not to have such large scale crises. It is just the thing that we want to discuss. (…)
There are two main topics. The first one is a system approach to the issues of macroeconomics. This approach contains typical macrocosmic algorithms. The economics is quite often considered as a self-sufficient autonomic system nowadays. But it is not so. Economics is just a subsystem of complex social relations. So, the second main topic of the conference is the work of a human brain. It is an area of knowledge which belongs to the microcosmic category and studied by neurosciences, such as neurobiology, neurophysiology, neurochemistry, neuroethics, neuroaesthetics, neuroeconomics, neuromarketing, neurotheology, etc.
Ed. – Nina Mikhailovna, what is your vision of solving the problem at the microcosmic level?
Slanevskaya – The problem lies in social practice and we have two contending ways of opposite directions for solution. The first one to choose the ‘medical path’ for social relations correcting the brain work as a physical matter to improve the morality of individual behaviour in society and the economic effectiveness of individual human labour (there are many technologies to interfere into the brain work now), or to choose the other path which leads to the priority of mind, non-physical substance, which can correct the work of brain via itself according to the findings of neuroscience. For that we need different means, so-called spiritual and mental. For example neurotheology studies the remodeling of neuropaths of the brain having a deep religious experience. I would call religions a great intuitive human invention for self-treatment of the brain negatively affected. To go in for sports or to be engaged in art for your own pleasure also helps to remodel neuron work and a person feels much better physically and psychologically. >>> (.pdf)
2.
Chernigovskaya T.V. "Language and Consciousness: What Makes Us Human?"
Open lecture, November 23, 2008. (see video and photos http://www.polit.ru/lectures/2008/12/24/langmind.html )
The lecture was given by Tatiana V. Chernigovskaya, the Doctor of Science in Linguistics and in Human Physiology, Vice-chair, Professor of the Department of General Linguistics and of the Department of Medicine, St. Petersburg State University. Professor of Smolny College of Liberal Arts and Sciences/ Bard College, European University of St. Petersburg. Head of the Research Department of General Linguistics and the Laboratory for Cognitive Studies at the Institute of Philology, St. Petersburg State University, in the club-café Bilingua in the framework of the project “Open lectures of Polit.ru” on the 20th of November 2008.
3.
Behktereva N.P.,"Living alongside the Mystery", the interview taken by the editors of the journal Personality and Culture, 2000, St.Petersburg, No 5/6, p. 18 (in Russian) www.lichnost-kultura.narod.ru
In St.Peterbsurg, in Academic Pavlov street 9, there is the Institute for the Human Brain belonging to the Russian Academy of Sciences organized on the basis of the scientific group headed by Natalia Petrovna Bekhtereva. Natalia P. Bekhtereva (Behtereva) (1924 -2008) was a great Russian neuroscientist and physiologist, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, who developed neurophysiological approaches and contributed a lot to the development of Russian neuroscience. She was the founder of the Institute for the Human Brain of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St.Petersburg where she headed the neurophysiological department of Mind, Creativity and Consciousness.
http://www.ihb.spb.ru/
Ed.: Have philosophical ideas influence the direction of your research?
Bekhtereva: No key philosophical questions have been solved yet. The main question of philosophy is the relations between thought and matter. But the level of present technology is not high enough to answer this question. Thought is still considered to be the product of the brain, however, no ‘bridge’ has been built to connect them directly. The attempts have been made but this laborious study has yielded a very modest result.
A huge job is still to be done and it may occur that the solution of the problem will escape from researchers again. We should not rule out the opinion that the brain functions as a receiver (a receiving organ – Ed.), but not as a producer, though it would make me sad if so. >>> (.pdf)
4.
Medvedev S.V."The Privileged Brain", the interview taken by the editors of the journal Personality and Culture, 2009, St.Petersburg, 2000, No 4, p.11 (in Russian) www.lichnost-kultura.narod.ru
Svyatoslav Medvedev - Director of the Institute for the Human Brain of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Head of the Laboratory of Positron Emission Tomography, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Ed.: Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich, in our journal we cover the questions related to culture studies, ethnic similarity and difference, history of civilizations. So our question is the following: has human ability of thinking changed in the course of time? Could a man of the Middle Ages think as we think now?
Medvedev: It is a very interesting question. It relates to two spheres: biology and ideal world.
At present there is no information that the brain has changed. However, speaking about people of different historical epochs, we use our own way of thinking ascribing it to them. >>> (.pdf)
5.
Subbota A.G."The Golden Section and Health" the interview taken by the editors of the journal Personality and Culture, St.Petersburg, 1999, No 2, p.24 (in Russian) www.lichnost-kultura.narod.ru
“The Golden Section and Health” is the interview with Alexander Grigorievich Subbota, PhD in Medecine, the scientist and veteran of the Military Medical Academy, the author of the book ‘The Golden Section (sectio aurea) in Medicine’, St.Petersburg, 1996 and many other articles on the topic of the Golden Ratio.
Ed.: - Your works on the problem of the Golden Section are mainly dedicated to the functional harmony of organs and systems. Why?
Subbota: (…) In medicine it plays a decisive role. The thing is that the functional indicators of organs and systems (pulse, arterial pressure, temperature of the body, Electro-Cardio Gram (ECG)), show not only the state of the health but the development of disease. These indicators turn out to be also connected with the Golden Section directly or indirectly.
(The golden ratio between two quantities in mathematics and art is an irrational mathematical constant, approximately 1.6180339887 – N.S.). >>> (.pdf)