Electroencephalography in Relation to Behaviour Problems
One of tv> u Agists ic <<? basal questions submitted to psycho- malitiesofu ^at.ure or Nurture?” Are abnor- which can v^our due to inherent factors inborn, altered o n0t helped anc* on^ to a slight extent ting after V0 *n?uences ?f the environment opera- Prevented 7^’ which may be removed or at’least f?llowedn^U^ce Lombroso and those who inevitabi ^ footsteps stressed the inherent and Hon-p0s?e actors (Nature), and a pessimistic and decades Utv!S attitude was established for several insistence n ?ame modern psychology with its and there ?n in^uence of environment (Nurture), almost tensued a wave of optimism and a claim psychotu 0 omnipotence by the enthusiastic The -raPist- ^uesti0nWlSe-ii Psychologist when faced with this Proportio ? answer: “Both, but in different subject a m Afferent cases “?so that in every mine how Se stu<^y must be undertaken to deter- and hnu, much of the abnormality is due to Nature Recent^ to Nature.
graph se mvestigations with the Electroencephalo- m?re tQ m ,t? show that ” Nature ” may have Pr?blems afhln explanation of certain behaviour Agists we n more enthusiastic new psycho- ^at there^ preParec^ to admit, but this is not to say for ajj , ought to be a reversion to pessimism, Pr?blem ch ihS ^iscl?se(i s that some of these abnormar t n have a certain tendency towards ?Wsionl?f^hich may never come to overt treated. ^ey are carefully handled and wisely The j?i ^hich recec,roencephalograph is an instrument from an ,s the electric waves which emanate others. Tn Vl!11? tissues?the brain amongst the are reguia ? case ?f the brain at rest, these waves 10 per seen !? r^ythm with a frequency or rate of ?f structur11 ^ *s f?unci that abnormalities, both turbances k au^ function of the brain, show dis- ?th of the rate and regularity of this rhythm, a condition known as dysrhythmia (abnormal rhythm).
Studies of these abnormalities have in the past been directed to patients suffering from injuries to the brain, new growths within the skull, and epilepsy, but more recently increasing attention is being paid to studies of children showing abnormalities of behaviour.
Few of these studies have been published but a series of observations is being conducted in this country in relation to children in a Hostel for Difficult Children. In America some work has been done and Lindsley and Cutts (1940) have obtained some interesting results. They found that the incidence of abnormalities of rhythm was markedly higher in a group of behaviour problem children than in a control group of normal children, and conclude that ” the greater incidence of abnor- malities of rhythm suggests a disturbance of brain function which may be an important factor in the inability of the former group to adjust to environ- mental conditions, particularly if such conditions are adverse. On the same basis, one might expect that the so-called normal children whose electroencephalograms showed significant evi- dence of disturbances would be poorer risks in the face of persistent environmental difficulties than those whose records did not show such disturbances.
In the present state of our knowledge, too much stress should not be paid to electroencephalo- graphic findings in this or any other abnormality of behaviour or function, but it is obvious that it is an interesting line of research which is well worth following up.
It may be that the future will reveal that these children who show marked abnormalities of rhythm do not warrant too much expenditure of time and labour in psychotherapeutic endeavour, whilst a normal picture may mean that lack of success is a serious reflection on the skill or perseverance of the psychotherapist, provided he can secure such a control of the child’s environment as to give him a chance of bettering it. On the other hand, it may mean that certain drugs may be more useful in selected cases (those with marked dysrhythmia) in modifying behaviour than seems likely to be the case at present. R.G.G. References Cutts, K. K., and Jasper, H. H. Effects of Benzedrine Sulphate and Phenobarbital on Behaviour Problem Children with Abnormal Electroencephalograms. Arch. Neurol. Psychiat., Chicago, 41, 1138. 1939. Jasper, H. H., Solomon, P., and Bradley, C. El encephalography Analyses of Behaviour Prot>’ Children. Am. J. Psychiat., 95, 641, 1938. Lindsley, D. B. A Longitudinal Study of the Occipjjj Alpha Rhythm in Normal Children. J. Genetic Psych” 55, 197. 1939. Lindsley. D. B., and Bradley, C. Electroenceph^ graphy as an Aid to Understanding certain Behavi??; Disorders of Childhood. Z.Kinderpsychiat., 6, 33. Lindsley, D. B., and Cutts, K. K. Electroenceph3’’ grams of Constitutionally Inferior and Behavi0, Problem Children. Arch. Neurol. Psychiat., Chica? 44, 1199. 1940.
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