The contents of education must correspond not only to the level of knowledge and competencies, but also be directed to self-determination of the personality and creation of conditions for its self-development and self-realization. The aim of this study was to identify the psycho-physiological peculiarities of Biology students and to establish the connection between the students’ academic performance, their cognitive abilities and their psycho-physiological characteristics, which is essential for improving the academic process and bringing it to the high level of professional education necessary for graduates of higher educational establishments to compete successfully in the job market. It was established that the majority (46%) of Biology students are ambiverts, 34% of them are extroverts, and 18% – introverts. There is a statistically reliable connection between the academic grades and the personality type: the more successful students are ambiverts and introverts. Extroverts demonstrate lower academic results. According to different types of asymmetry manifestation among Biology students, the right-handed accounted for 35% of the tested, those with prevailing right hand – 51%, those with prevailing left hand – 1.2% and the left-handed – 12%. There is no dependence of academic performance on the asymmetry manifestation. Most Biology students have a sanguine-choleric temperament and slightly expressed or absent asymmetry, which testifies to the power of nervous processes and is a precondition for successful studying. The majority of students, irrespective of the academic performance level, have a low level of stress resistance and a medium level of personality anxiety. Students who score A and B points for academic performance, have a medium level of situational anxiety. Those who score C points have a high level of anxiety. There is no connection between the academic points and personality anxiety level, but there is significant connection between academic performance and situational anxiety. There has been established a significant dependence of academic performance on the level of situational anxiety: introverts and extroverts have a high level, ambiverts have a medium level of situational anxiety. Introverts and ambiverts with a low and medium anxiety level demonstrate higher academic performance. Extroverts with a high anxiety level find it more difficult to study. The majority of Biology students have a high level of visual-imaginative, object-active and creative thinking types. 83% of students have a high and a medium level of verbal-logical thinking type. Abstract-symbolic and intuitive thinking are developed in lesser degree. There has been established a reliable negative correlative connection between object-active thinking type and introversion, and a positive connection between intuitive thinking and introversion, irrespective of academic results. The more introversion is expressed, the more intuition is developed. Academically successful students demonstrated a positive correlation between the abstract-symbolic thinking type and introversion. Extroverts with low academic performance don’t have significant correlation connections with the thinking types, whereas it is characteristic for academically successful students to demonstrate a higher level of visual-imaginative, verbal-logical, abstract-symbolic and creative thinking along with an increase in demonstrating extroversion. Practically all thinking types (except for the object-active) are more fully expressed in successful ambiverts; the manifestation of a certain thinking type increases while ambiversion increases. Less academically successful students have a reliable correlative connection between ambiversion and visual-imaginative, abstract-symbolic and creative thinking. Performance of tasks connected with all thinking types irrespective of typological characteristics of students was accompanied by a reliable increase in saturation. More diversified reactions in the process of thinking activity were observed in the cardio-vascular system: introverts and ambiverts who demonstrated high results in the tests, showed significant decrease of heart beat rate in the process of intuitive and visual-imaginative thinking. Extroverts who demonstrated low results in the tests, by contrast, showed an increase in heart beat rate. When students of all typological groups were doing tasks connected with verbal-logical thinking, their heart beat rate significantly increased. Ambiverts and introverts were more successful. Thus, the whole range of psychological and physiological characteristics of a person defines his successful academic performance and real activity.

Nitric oxide is the main inhibitory mediator of the gastrointestinal smooth muscles’ relaxation which stimulates duodenal mucus and bicarbonate secretion. More recent studies have demonstrated that NO also protected the gastrointestinal tract by inhibiting gastric acid secretion. In this study we investigated gastric secretory and motor activity considering the NO imbalance condition. The experiments were carried out on male white laboratory rats (200–230 g). The control group was treated with 0.9% NaCl solution. The injections of NO donator (1.5 mg/kg of 0.1% (Sigma-Aldrich) sodium nitroprusside solution) were made in the second and the third groups during 6 and 12 days. The fourth and the fifth group were treated with NO synthesis inhibitor (40 mg/kg of 1% solution (Sigma-Aldrich) Nω-nitro-L-arginine) during 6 and 12 days respectively. Recording of gastric myoelectric activity (GMA) and gastric juice collection were carried out under anesthesia (ketamine, 110 mg/kg). Next, its volume, pH, glycoprotein and pepsin were measured. Within 6-days stimulation of NO excess decreased gastric juice volume by 47% and increased pH compared to control samples. Pepsin level increased by 62% and glycoprotein level decreased by 68% compared to the checkpoint. After 6 days of L-NNA injections we observed the increase of gastric juice secretion volume (78%) and pH level, however, pepsin concentration remained unchanged. Glycoprotein level increased by 21% compared to control samples. After 12 day NO synthesis inhibitor injections gastric secretion volume increased by 85%. Gastric juice pH level was 200% higher than the control value and exceeded gastric juice pH level (62%) in the third group. In addition, pepsin level tended to decrease when NO deficiency simulation was prolonged. Glycoprotein level decreased by 41% compared to control samples and by 51% compared to the third group. Pepsin level decreased after 12 day NO-inhibitor injections as gastric juice pH level increased. After 12 day Na-nitroprusside treatment, gastric myoelectric index decreased by 42% compared to the checkpoint. The type of contractions is typical to the I phase of the basic electrical rhythm (BER). Also, retrograde entrainment of duodenal rhythm took place. After 6 day L-NNA injections, GMA was the same as the period between II and III phase of BER. Late second and early third phases predominated, while the I phase wasn’t detected during the recording. In case of long-lasting disorder of NO-system, motor index value significantly differed from the control group samples and depended on the duration of NO-synthase blocking. On the 6th day of L-NNA treatment, the level of motor index increased 1.5 times. GMA phases could be identified only on the basis of motor index values. Stomach’s own rhythms disappeared and duodenogastric reflux resulted in domination of duodenal rhythms. After 12 day L-NNA injections, duration of the II and III phases increased while the I phase of gastric BER disappeared; gastric motor index decreased by 27%. After considering the results of the current investigation, it can be stated that NO system imbalance leads to desynchronization of gastric active phases and, perhaps, reassigns the influence of different compensatory-adaptive mechanisms. The longer is the L-NNA treatment, the more gastric functions are imbalanced and the stronger is the process of destruction.

Evaluation of biopotentials in the region of the amygdala of rats in the combined influence of alcohol and drugs, causing an imbalance of nitric oxide is described in this paper. Chronic alcoholism leads to structural morphological changes in the liver. A study of the amplitude of electrical activity showed that the electrical potential in the amygdala after 8 weeks chronic alcoholism was lower compared with normal rats. The frequency spectrum analysis showed decreased in the 2 times or more absolute spectral powers of all components. The relative spectral powers of its components: δ: θ: α: β was as a 2: 2: 2: 4. The use of sodium nitroprusside (donator of NO) together with the chronic consumption of ethanol reduces the effect of ethanol on low and high-frequence portion the performance of the bioelectrical activities spectrum in the amygdala. The use of non-selective blocker of NO-synthase – nitroarginine aggravated by the braking action of alcohol. The important role of nitric oxide in the development of adaptive-compensatory reactions of the damaged body is described. Our results may be useful to assess the contribution of NO in operation amygdala, conditions of chronic pathologies, and treatment of neuropsychiatric conditions, including diseases caused by alcohol abuse.

Gastrointestinal motility is determined by a complex interaction of neuronal, humoral, and cellular-muscular mechanisms that ensure the movement of partially digested food along the gastrointestinal tract, regulate digestion processes, and control sphincter function. This review presents a systematic study of the anatomical and functional organization of the gastrointestinal tract with a special emphasis on peristalsis and coordination of sphincter activity. Particular attention is paid to the structural and functional role of the SIP syncytium, including interstitial cells of Cajal, cells expressing platelet-derived growth factor receptor-α, and smooth muscle cells in the generation of slow waves and intercellular signaling. Important molecules like calcium ions, nitric oxide, and inositol triphosphate, which are crucial for starting and adjusting muscle contractions, are examined. The data on neurohumoral regulation of motility involving such mediators and peptides as acetylcholine, vasoactive intestinal peptide, motilin, cholecystokinin, and glucagon-like peptide-1 are also summarized. The differences in how motility is controlled based on sex and age are examined, particularly how estrogens and nitric oxide signaling affect this. The pathophysiology of central motility disorders, including esophageal achalasia, functional dyspepsia, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and duodenogastric reflux, is studied, considering the role of esophageal hernia. Modern diagnostic methods are considered, including high-precision manometric study, functional lumen assessment technologies, and long-term monitoring of acidity in the esophagus. The pr e sented data emphasize the close relationship between the molecular mechanisms, cellular structure and clinical manifestations of gastrointestinal motility disorders. The study highlights the need for an integrative and interdisciplinary approach to analyzing gastrointestinal motility, which can improve diagnostic accuracy and enable personalized treatment.

Background. Esophagogastric junction motility disorders in achalasia and hiatal hernia are accompanied by alterations in the barrier function of the lower esophageal sphincter and impaired coordination of esophageal peristaltic activity. Quantitative intraluminal pressure recording enables objective assessment of the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying these disorders and allows evaluation of intersegmental features of motor regulation. Materials and Methods. A total of 165 patients were examined and divided into three groups: control (n = 15), achalasia (n = 50), and hiatal hernia (n = 100). Intraluminal pressure was recorded using a pneumatic balloon fixed to an endoscopic probe. Pressure in the region of the lower esophageal sphincter and the pyloroduodenal junction was measured, as well as the amplitude and period of peristaltic and rhythmic pressure oscillations. Results are presented as Me (Q25; Q75). Intergroup comparisons were performed using the Kruskal–Wallis test followed by Dunn’s post hoc test with Bonferroni adjustment for multiple comparisons. Results and Discussion. Pressure during the passage through the lower esophageal sphincter in the hiatal hernia group was 4.52 (1.30; 12.64) mmHg and was significantly lower than in the control group, 19.54 (18.25; 20.12) mmHg, and the achalasia group, 22.80 (9.76; 43.69) mmHg (H = 51.44; p < 0.001). The peristaltic wave period was shorter in patients with hiatal hernia than in the control group (p = 0.010). The amplitude of peristaltic and rhythmic contractions did not demonstrate statistically significant intergroup differences. Changes in motor parameters were multidirectional and depended on the nosological form. Conclusion. In this study, LES-region pressure measured during the balloon passage showed the largest intergroup contrast, caused by markedly lower values in the hiatal hernia group, and thus demonstrated the clearest between-group contrast within the applied protocol. This finding is consistent with reduced antireflux barrier competence in hiatal hernia. However, the balloon “pressure during passage” metric reflects integrated mechanical resistance and is not directly equivalent to HRM-derived basal LES pressure or integrated relaxation pressure (IRP). In achalasia, this metric did not differentiate patients from controls in our cohort and should not be interpreted as a stand-alone marker of impaired LES relaxation. Peristaltic and rhythmic activity of the esophageal body shows high variability and limited diagnostic specificity.