Alexander Nikolayevich Lebedev (1869–1937) was a Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n biochemist. He is known for his early experiments on the biochemical basis of behavior. Lebedev apprenticed as a student with physiologist and psychologist Ivan Pavlov

Ivan Pavlov

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov was a famous Russian physiologist. Although he made significant contributions to psychology, he was not in fact a psychologist himself but was a mathematician and actually had strong distaste for the field....

, becoming familiar with various techniques involved used in behavioral psychology. Lebedev developed a theory that behavior in general, and specifically conditioned behavior

Classical conditioning

Classical conditioning is a form of conditioning that was first demonstrated by Ivan Pavlov...

 had a biochemical rather than psychological basis. He began his studies in biochemistry in Moscow State University

Moscow State University

Lomonosov Moscow State University , previously known as Lomonosov University or MSU , is the largest university in Russia. Founded in 1755, it also claims to be one of the oldest university in Russia and to have the tallest educational building in the world. Its current rector is Viktor Sadovnichiy...

obtaining a doctorate in 1898. He then proceeded to publish widely on the topic of "biochemistry of the mind" and is considered by some to have pioneered the field of Neuropharmacology.

Source

Cooper D.M. Russian science reader, Oxford, Pergamon Press; NY, Macmillan (1964).