The aim of this follow-up study was to examine the long-term disabilities and handicaps caused by severe head injuries and their effects on the everyday life of patients and their relatives. The group studied consisted of 19 subjects who had suffered a severe closed-head injury during 1984 and had been rehabilitated in the Käpylä Rehabilitation Center. In 1989 a thorough functional assessment of these patients was carried out. In addition, information concerning the quality of life, activities of daily living (ADL) and social situation was gathered by means of questionnaires filled in by the patient and, if possible, by a close relative. The results indicated the importance of changes in cognitive functions, personality and emotional reactions. Changes in personality and emotional reactions were especially emphasized by the relatives. We also correlated the patients' and their relatives' estimates of the occurrence of memory problems, whereas tests of visual memory, though able to discriminate the brain-injured from normal subjects, did not correlate on a statistically significant level with the estimates of patients and relatives. The implications of the results for methods of assessment and the planning of rehabilitation programmes are discussed.
René Descartes thought that the pineal gland is the part of the body with which the soul is most immediately associated. Several prominent historians (such as Soury, Thorndike and Sherrington) have claimed that this idea was not very original. We re-examine the evidence and conclude that their assessment was wrong. We pay special attention to the thesis about the pineal gland which Jean Cousin defended in January, 1641.
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