Psychosomatic Medicine 11:113-118 (1949)
© 1949 American Psychosomatic Society

Relation Between Certain Finger Volume Changes, Electroencephalographically Manifested Brain Activity, and Psychopathologic Reactions

¹ New York Hospital and the Department of Psychiatry, Cornell University Medical College, New York

A study of 11 patients with a characteristic type of disorderly finger plethysmogram disclosed that all of the patients demonstrated emotional outbursts accompanied by disturbances of thinking or impulsive behavior. Furthermore, 10 of the patients had abnormal electroencephalographic responses to hyperventilation, and 8 patients had excess slow wave activity without overbreathing. Disorderly finger plethysmograms were defined by gross, abrupt changes in pulse wave amplitude with runs of small or large amplitude lasting thirty seconds or less which gave a paroxysmal and disorderly appearance. In these cases pulse wave fluctuations were superimposed on a background of large alpha wave activity. No significant correlation between the physiologic findings and diagnostic groups was found. There was a low incidence of disorderly finger plethysmograms and abnormal electroencephalograms in the patients not demonstrating emotional outbursts with disturbances of thinking and impulsive behavior. A common descriptive feature in the physiologic and psychologic behavior of these patients was a sudden unpredictable marked change of state with respect to time.