A. R. Luria developed the concept of the brain as a material substrate of the psyche, within the framework of which he identified three main functional blocks:
1) The energy block. It provides conditions for mental activity, in particular, wakefulness and proper cortical tone. The subcortical regions and parts of the brain located near the brainstem, including the limbic system and a number of other structures, are responsible for this work.
2) A block for receiving, processing and storing information coming from the outside world. It includes the cortex of the posterior parts of the cerebral hemispheres. In this block, there are primary, secondary, and tertiary zones:– The primary zones receive information coming from one of the senses. “The secondary zones treat it.– Tertiary zones connect information received from different senses and corresponding areas of the brain. Operations related to abstract thinking and some others also take place here.
3) Programming, regulation and control block. It is responsible for the processes associated with complex mental activity: speech, memory, and much more. The functions of this block are: planning of higher mental activity, self-organization and regulation (that is, its actual execution), control. For this work, the anterior parts of the cerebral hemispheres (mainly the frontal lobes) are involved.