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The article cites a study that analyzes a group of 178 male patients who are admitted to Broadmoor Hospital in England, and differentiates and contrasts findings with those of an earlier research on offender patients in an area mental hospital. Broadmoor Hospital is one of the three Special Hospitals designed for the treatment of patients of dangerous or violent propensities. Several tables are presented which differentiate the Broadmoor group and groups of non-offender patients and offender patients. A relative excess of schizophrenic illness is diagnosed in both offender patient groups, while psychopathic disorders are common in Broadmoor patients. More similarities are observed between the 2 offender patient groups. Fewer Broadmoor patients are found to have previous hospital admissions.

The narcoleptic syndrome is a life-long and sometimes familial disorder in which there is a disturbance of the rapid eye movement phase of sleep. Patients with periodic sleep in the daytime but no other symptoms seldom develop the narcoleptic syndrome and have a separate unrelated disorder. Twelve patients with the narcoleptic syndrome were treated separately with l(−) amphetamine and d(+) amphetamine. Both drugs abolished narcolepsy, d(+) amphetamine being slightly more potent than l(−) amphetamine. In equipotent doses, unwanted effects of nervousness and insomnia were equal in frequency. No tolerance to either preparation developed during a six month period. Cataplexy was not affected by amphetamine treatment, but was abolished in two patients when clomipramine was given together with either amphetamine. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An initial observation that insomnia, especially early morning waking, is a feature of anorexia nervosa has been confirmed. A further proposition that the insomnia is more closely related to the nutritional disturbance than to the mood state has also been confirmed using standardized measures of weight, sleep and mood. These findings are discussed in terms of the possible relevance to other illnesses involving weight change in which there is an alteration of sleep patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents a study that investigates the association of extraversion and neuroticism to the electroencephalogram (EEG). The study selected 64 young adult male subjects, whose EEG recordings, extraversion and neuroticism scores were obtained. The researchers measured the alpha index, the mean alpha amplitude, the alpha attenuation response and its rate of habituation during the course of 60 repetitive flash stimuli. Findings revealed no significant correlation between the EEG variables, and the extraversion and neuroticism scores.

The article presents a study which uses the Middlesex Hospital Questionnaire, a self-rating inventory designed to provide rapid quantification of common symptoms and traits relevant to the conventional clinical categories of psychoneurotic illness. The questionnaire provides an approximation to what would be expected at a clinical level from a diagnostic psychiatric interview. It has advantages over other questionnaires which incorporate essentially non-clinical constructs of personality functioning.

The article describes the initial findings of a comparative study of with sex chromosome abnormalities and a group of matched controls of normal chromosome complement. Electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings were performed on 22 patients with sex chromosome abnormalities. The study examined the control group of patients' normal karyotype from the same hospital, matched for age, intelligence quotient (IQ) and duration of stay. It found that the subjects with sex chromosome abnormalities had a higher prevalence of EEG disturbance. The prevalence of EEG change was as common in the XYY as in the XXY syndrome.

The article presents a study that determines the prevalence and type of electroencephalography (EEG) abnormality in anorexia nervosa and establishes more clearly the possible causes of EEG changes. In this study, EEG recordings were performed on 31 female and 1 male patients with classical primary anorexia nervosa before the onset of treatment. Results indicated that there were significant associations between the prevalence of abnormality of the background rhythms, instability of the hyperventilation response, and the duration of illness and presence of electrolyte depletion.

The article presents a study of an electroencephalography (EEG) measure of the effect of mood change on the thiopentone tolerance of depressed patients. In this study, a new technique for measuring the sedation threshold of an individual is described. In a group of depressed patients, the threshold dose decreased significantly in those showed recovery or marked improvement after electroconvulsive therapy. Results indicate that the use of the onset of suppression-burst activity as an end-point gives a highly reliable index of the thiopentone tolerance of an individual. Since thiopentone acts by depression of the reticular formation, an increase in the excitation of this system leading to increased EEG arousal during a depressive illness may reduce its sensitivity to thiopentone.

The article attempts to correlate the alpha rhythm with various aspects of personality through electroencephalography examination performed on 54 healthy subjects. The alpha index, mean alpha amplitude and the alpha blocking responses to serial paired flashes of light were analyzed for each subject. No significant correlation was found between any of these variables and extra version or neuroticism as measured by the Maudsley Personality Inventory. Further, the degree of habituation of the alpha blocking responses to the serial visual stimulation was examined in those subjects with high and low extraversion sources. There was no difference in the rate or extent of habituation in these two groups.

The article presents a case of 52-year-old man with temporal lobe epilepsy who killed his wife during a depressive episode. According to the authors, related literatures revealed that a relationship exists between epilepsy and murder, although it is not directly a result of the seizure or of its immediate sequelae. In some cases, the common factor may be a mental illness in the epileptic, in which epilepsy plays an important causative role. The relationship between the homicide, epilepsy and depression are discussed.