Introduction .

摘要

The Department of Physiology at Jessenius Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Martin celebrates its 50th anniversary in academic year 2016/2017. The reader is invited to the exciting journey through the history since Department′s establishment till present, through five decades of development, new methods, domestic and international cooperation, interdisciplinarity and original achievements in the experimental and clinical-physiological research areas. The article focuses on early results as well as main current findings especially in the field of respiratory reflexes, pulmonary surfactant, autonomic nervous system involvement in heart rate and blood pressure control in physiological and pathological conditions, psychophysiology, and clinical and experimental perinatal physiology.