A comparison of the frequency components of the eegs of lobotomized and controlss: A quantitative approach

Abstract

THELennox and Colidge (a) examined preoperative EEGs and postoperative EEGs from 1 day to 1 year on 48 lobotomized patients. They observed diffuse slowing, predominantly in the frontal lobes, after lobotomy. The amount of slowing tended to decrease within the first 2 months after the operation.Three phases in the evolution of the postlobotomy EEG over a 20-year postoperative period were observed by P~i r e '~) .Phase one is a period of diffuse EEG destructuralization. This phase occurs during the immediate postoperative period while the patient still is confused. Phase two differentiates between improved and unimproved Ss. In the unimproved Ss, the EEGs present "flat" prefrontal traces. The EEG patterns of improved Ss, on the other hand, are reconstructed parallel with the regression of the mental confusion. In the third, or "tardy" phase, mental deterioration is accompanied by slow, polymorphic prefrontal traces.However, it should be noted that all of the above-cited EEG studies were done on the basis of a visual inspection of the EEG records. Woody(') examined the intrajudge reliability of clinical interpretations of EEG pen tracings, a judgment that involves an attempt to determine the frequency components present. He found that highly qualified interpreters of the EEG were "inconsistent" in their ability to repeat their judgments. Woody made the point that his results argued for the use of electronic analyzers in electroencephalographic work.The present study compared the frequency components of the ongoing EEGs of lobotomized Ss with those of unoperated controls. A frequency analyzer, computer of average transients, and other electronic equipment were employed in order to place the comparisons on a quantitative as opposed t o a judgmental basis. METHODSubjects. Two groups of 7 Ss were employed, all of whom were patients at Central State Hospital in Milledgeville, Georgia. None of the patients had any known neurological dysfunction, with the exception of the sequelae of the lobotomies that had been performed on the experimental group. A yoked-control design was employed, and the two groups were matched for sex, age, race, and I& as determined by the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (see Table 1). The 7 Ss in the experimental group had been given transorbital lobotomies of the Freeman and Watts type. All of the operations had been performed during a $-year period between 1950 and 1954; that is, approximately 16 or more years prior to the collection of these data. The members of the control group never had been subjected to any form of brain surgery. All 14 Ss received no medication known or suspected to influence the EEG for at least 3 days prior to their participation in the study.Apparatus. The EEG signals were amplified with a Grass Model 6A5 amplifier. These signals then were fed to a dual-channel, on-line, active band-pass filter system that separated the raw signals into the three conventional EEG bands:

Intellectual functioning in lobotomized and non-lobotomized long term chronic schizophrenic patients

“…All of the 14 t comparisons were found to be nonsignificant, which suggests that the lobotomy group failed to show significant differences from the control group with respect to their intellectual performance as assessed by the WAIS. Wildman and Wildman (1975) in their EEG study matched their lobotomized and control Ss by WAIS Full Scale IQs, though no eubtest results were reported. The mean WAIS Full Scale I& for the 7 experimental Ss was 75.57, while the mean WAIS Full Scale I& for the 7 control Ss was 76.14.…”

“…Both Parsons and Klein (1970) and Davis, DeWolfe, and Gustafson (1972) support a general hypothesis that process schizophrenic and brain-injured patients show a similar quantitative level of intellectual performance through the use of different abilities. Wildman and Wildman (1975), who matched Ss on the basis of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) , report no statistically significant differences in the electroencephalogram (EEG) frequency component comparisons between 7 lobotomized and 7 control Ss. In a factor-analytic study, de Mille (1962) found that his control Ss had significantly higher mean scores on all three Wechsler-Bellevue IQs and on three Wechsler-Bellevue subtests.…”