Relations between pneumoencephalographic and electroencephalographic findings in childhood]

During simultaneous testing of electro-encephalograms and pneumoencephalograms in 200 children of various ages a proven correlation of statistics between both test procedures emerged as a well-defined parameter for evaluation. When making a statement about the correlation in findings between E.E.G. and P.E.G. the age of development in a child must be taken into consideration. Thus it emerged that in infants pronounced enlargement of the ventricular system correlates with active tension E.E.G. at increased inter-cranial pressure, while the coincidence of focal changes in E.E.G. and P.E.G. with advancing years becomes at first more pronounced after the tenth year of life (or puberty) but afterwards lessens.     

Electroneurographic and electroencephalographic findings is patients exposed to hexachlorcyclohexane

While the health of the general population is not adversely affected by the exposure the pesticides in food and environment, workers, who have during their occupation been intensely exposed to pesticides, exhibit a higher prevalence of slight neurotoxic symptoms. In the present study the electroencephalograms of 3 of a group 10 workmen, who had been continually exposed to hexachlorcyclohexane, show pathological findings. The electromyograms of 8 of these 10 workman demonstrate a disturbance of the peripherical motoneuron. All probands, who exhibit o pathological EEG, also show a polyneuropathy.     

EEG findings in 130 enuretics with special reference to spike potentials

As a result of an one time electroencephalographic transversal examination of 130 patients with enuresis aged from 3 to 18 years a back ground activity that was too slow for their age was found as the most frequent abnormal finding (31,5%). Focal sharp waves and spikes were observed in 20 per cent; they seem to be more frequent in enuretics than in other children and adolescents with disorders of behaviour. Their frequency is dependent on age. They are of small use for proving an epilepsy as possible cause of enuresis.     

Serum creatine kinase activity in psychoses]

This is a report of the initial results of determinations of the creatine kinase activity in the serum of forty psychiatric and twenty-five neurological patients. A determination of the creatine kinase activity made in the first days of an acute endogenous psychosis invariably showed an increase in creatine kinase which returned to normal values after eight to fourteen days. Patients with residual schizophrenia, conditions of acute excitation accompanying psychopathy, and abnormal personality or circumscribed paranoid development showed creatine activity in the range of normal values. Alcoholics with incipient or strongly marked delirium tremens showed normal creatine kinase activity in those cases where the situation was not complicated by additional traumata or other accompanying diseases.     

Serum creatinphosphokinase (CPK) in endogenic psychoses]

Creatinphosphokinase (CPK) was determined in 141 patients with manic-depressive and schizophrenic psychoses. In general endogenic psychoses of the manic and depressive type as well as chronic schizophrenias show normal CPK values. In acute cases of paranoid-halluzinatory schizophrenias normal values are predominant. In catatonic schizophrenias, as a rule, clearly increased enzyme activities are found. Thise increased values suggest a postulated somatic disease as a cause of the psychosis. Thus, the determination of CPK provides a useful aid in the diagnosis and control of the course of catatonic schizophrenic.     

The problem of apparent schizophrenic symptoms in juveniles]

In the clinic we frequently come across cases of indistinct accentuated schizophrenic behaviour in youth. We mention here a casuistry which can be considered as a juvenile asthenic denial syndrome with coenaesthetic symptoms. This picture can be differentiated from coenaesthetic schizophrenia, hebephrenia, neurotic symptoms and physical psychoses which can be proven. The problem of differential diagnosis is considered with particular regard to progressive diagnosis.     

Results of electroencephalographic and familial studies in Wilson's disease]

The results of electroencephalographic and familial studies of 31 Wilson's disease patients coming from 26 kindreds are presented. Prior to treatment, 8 patients showed pathological conditions, while 9 and 11 patients showed borderline and normal conditions, respectively, it having not been possible to determine electroencephalographic conditions characteristic of Wilson's disease and find any relationships between the intensity of E.E.G. changes and the clinical picture and stage of development of the disease, respectively. Under penicillamine treatment, there was observed a tendency toward normalization of pathological conditions rather than deterioration of normal E.E.G. findings. So far as familial studies are concerned, the authors report the results obtained for 9 fathers, 19 mothers, and 24 siblings from a total of 21 kindreds; what is remarkable in this connection is the comparatively small percentage of normal E.E.G. findings for healthy siblings. It was only in one single kindred that it was possible to observe similarities between E.E.G. variations of individual family members.     

Sex distribution of EEG phenomena with particular reference to subcortical dysfunctions]

The most constant or continually recurring sexual difference observed from childhood through to old age and determined from the results of a total of 1500 electroencephalograms was a considerable increase in beta activity occurring in female individuals at an earlier time and at a higher rate. The more frequent observation in male individuals of a "pure" alpha electroencephalogram may be interpreted as suggesting a slight decrease of vigilance in them. The percentage of abnormal electroencephalographic results was highest in females, the proportion being 62.5%:51.5% and the functional disorders occurring chiefly in the form of subcortical dysfunctions (30%:20%). Low voltage was found to be predominant in males. More frequent occurrence in the female sex of weakness of the brainstem and a more sensitively reacting formatio reticularis may be considered a possible explanation; also, attempts are made to bring the results obtained into causal or reciprocal relation to psychic conditions. Beta activity is perhaps a parameter of emotionality.     

Studies on protein genetic factors in multiple sclerosis and psychoses]

In more than 200 cases of multiple sclerosis, psychosis and cyclothymia, the Hp types are studied with the help of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (Schreyer and Schaible, 1967) and the Gc types wtih agar gel electrophoresis (Schlesinger, Vogt and Prokop, 1963). All Hp and Gc types were found in these diseases, but there was no frequent occurence of any particular type in multiple acleroses of psychoses. According to our results, there is no interdependence between these diseases and the Hp and Gc types.     

Episodic future thinking in children compared to adolescents

Episodic thinking involves the ability to re-create past and to construct future personal events, which contain event-specific (episodic) and general (semantic) details. The richness of episodic thought for past events improves as children move into adolescence. The current study aims to examine changes in episodic future thinking and to establish the cognitive underpinning of these changes. Typically developing children (n = 14) and adolescents (n = 15) were tested using an adapted version of the Child Autobiographical Interview (CAI) that required generation of past and future personally relevant events. Relational memory and executive skills were also examined. Significant developmental gains were found in richness of events recall across temporal directions (past and future) and across different types of details (episodic and semantic). Developmental gains in richness of past events were also shown to correspond to developmental gains in generation of future events. Moreover, developmental changes in relational memory and (to a lesser extent) executive functions were found to relate to increases in the amount of episodic (but not semantic) details provided. Our study highlighted the similarities between past and future episodic thinking in typically developing children and adolescents. It also raises a possibility that children with developmental and neurological disorders with impaired relational memory and/or executive skills may be at risk of difficulties with episodic thinking.     

Electroencephalographic findings in vertebro-basilar circulation disorders]

The method of electroencephalography was used for examining 86 patients with clinical signs of vertebrobasilar blood supply disorders and bulbopontine localization of ischemic phenomena. Light to moderate diffuse alterations were found which manifested themselves, on the one hand, in a reduction in tension with a tendency toward desynchronization of the alpha rhythm and, on the other, in interspersed theta waves, sometimes with temporal localization. The determination of the location of the vascular process depends upon both the clinical syndrome and the performance of function tests during the electroencephalographic examination. The disproportion between the excellent organization of the bioelectrical activity and the severe clinical picture is sufficient reason to consider vascular damages to the pontobulbar portion of the brain stem.