L. A. Orbeli Institute of Physiology NAS RA
The L.Orbeli Institute of Physiology of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences, founded in 1943, is a major center of neuroscience in Armenia. The real ground for its organization were the investigations, carried out in a number of Armenian Universities, but the main direction of scientific studies were distinguished through activity of outstanding Armenian neurophysiologists working in Moscow and Leningrad (St. Petersburg). Being either directors or scientific co-ordinators of the Institute in the period of its growing L.A.Orbeli, E.H.Hasratyan (Physiology of the Higher Nervous System and Neuronal Plasticity), Kh.S.Koshtoyants (Physiology of Evolution), A.M.Alexanyan (Physiology of the Cerebellum), A.I.Karamyan (Evolution of the CNS) predetermined the perspectives of the development of neuroscience in Armenia. The Institute is an establishment of neurophysiological profile and elaborate the problems of general and special physiology of the brain which were formerly included in the general fundamental programs of Academy of Sciences of the former Soviet Union (FSU) called "Brain" and "Homeostasis". L.A.Orbeli Institute of Physiology had the key position in two problems of mentioned programs of FSU: "Mechanisms of the brainstem and cerebellar integrations" and "Central mechanisms of regulation of visceral system functions". The Institute has been a major initiator and periodic organiser of many scientific forums in the same problems. Presently, in the frames of IBRO membership the Institute regularly once in two years organises conferences of Armenian IBRO Association, as well as the meetings of Armenian physiologists. Along with the development of neurophysiology the neurobiochemistry, with its real potential also found out an international recognition. Currently the journal of "Biochemistry" is being published in Armenia with joint contribution of Russian Academy of Sciences.
Director - Dr. K. V. Kazaryan
At present the Institute has the following laboratories where the different problems of neurosciences are studied:
| Laboratory | Head |
Research Fields |
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Physiology of the Central Nervous System |
Dr. L. R. Manvelyan |
Neuronal and synaptic organization of cerebellum and brainstem motor nuclei; Synaptic mechanisms of neuronal network plasticity. |
Laboratory of Sensorimotor Integration |
Dr. V. H. Sargsyan |
Synaptic mechanisms of .... |
| Physiology of the Autonomic Nervous System |
Dr. L. B. Nersessian |
Neuronal organization of central regulating mechanisms of autonomic functions; Cortical and subcortical mechanisms of integration of visceral and somatic functions. |
| Neuroendocrine Interrelations |
Dr. L. A. Matinayan |
Mechanisms of plasticity of the injured nervous system. |
Human Psychophysiology |
Dr. L. Vahanyan |
Psychophysiological training and memory processing; peculiarities of verbal thinking during the transition from one language to another language under the conditions of different semantic and phonetic contents. |
Compensatory Functions of Central Nervous System |
Dr. J. S. Sarkissian |
Plastic synaptogenesis of reciprocal relations in cortico-cortical and cortico- subcortical systems. |
Smooth Muscles Physiology |
Dr. K. V. Kazarian |
Clarification of principal mechanisms responsible for regulation of muscle tissue spontaneous activity; These physiological and pharmacological properties controlling the ureter contraction activity. |
Histochemistry and Neuromorphology |
Dr. I. B. Meliksetyan |
Peculiarities of structural and cytochemical organization of neurones structures. |
Neuronal Systems Mathematical Modeling |
Dr. H. H. Mkrtchian |
Theoretical survey and computing experiments for studying quantum patterns of short- and long-term forms of synaptic plasticity. Problems of neuronal information coding and simulation of the elementary forms of associative training studying on the basis of original double-barrier synapse model. |
Physiologically Active Substances Purification and Standardization |
Dr. A. V. Voskanyan |
Venoms and bee products action on nervous system and haemodynamics. |
| Contact information: | Orbeli 22 str. Yerevan, Armenia |
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Tel: +374 10 272247 |
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Fax: +374 10 272247 |
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Email: vsargsyan@neuroscience.am |