Assessment of psychophysiological parameters of the nervous system of Chinese and Russian medical university students depending on the season of the year

   Currently, there is a trend towards the internationalization of higher education. At the same time, educational institutions need to meet the individual characteristics of international students by offering a wide range of educational services, taking into account ethnic and intercultural differences, in order to successfully adapt to new environmental conditions
and the education system.

   The aim of the study was to evaluate the psychophysiological parameters of the nervous system of Russian and Chinese medical university students depending on the season of the year.

   Material and methods. The study involved 203 first-year students, divided in to groups by gender and nationality. The measurements were carried out in spring and autumn. Situational and personal anxiety was assessed according to Spielberger – Khanin, the functional asymmetry of the hemispheres and the psycho-emotional state was registered using the hardware-software complex “Activationometer 6”.

   Results and discussion. During the entire observation period, all students had a moderate level of personal and situational anxiety. However, in the fall, the number of Chinese with a high level of personal anxiety, and in the spring, situational anxiety was higher compared to Russians. During the entire study period, students with right-hemisphere asymmetry were more common among Chinese youths. Chinese women had a slight left-hemisphere shift in asymmetry in the spring, and interhemispheric balance in the fall. In the spring, the values of the Chinese students’ psychoemotional state were higher compared to the autumn period.

   Conclusions. The high level of situational anxiety and psychoemotional state among Chinese people in spring is due to adaptation to the learning process and environmental and climatic conditions. The peculiarities of the distribution of the functional asymmetry of the hemispheres in Chinese and Russian students are explained by the difference in information perception and processing.

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