Events

Dr. Rylander published his first work on this subject eight years ago and since then he has traveled about Sweden studying further cases. He tried to operate only on non-psycotics. By giving tests to a picked, normal "twin" of each lobotomized patient, an attempt was made to reconstruct the pre-morbid personality. Patients showed enormous appetites and indefatigability. Memory and rate of intellectual activity were lowered slightly, differing little in standard error from "twins." Tests included nouns, abstract words, maxims, and fables. I. Q.'s went down initially, but later rose and leveled off, but they never reached the pre-operative peak. Dr. Rylander's graphs of these various tests are the first of their kind. Patients lost the knowledge of the value of money, ceased to dream, and lost interest easily. They felt no emotions, no deep sorrow, no great happiness. They behaved well during the tests and were bright, smiling, and polite. One of the five cases discussed by Dr. Rylander was employed as a cook in his home during the post-recovery period. She was observed for a total period of 14 months. Pre-operative observation showed endogenous anxiety periods with compulsive phenomena and hysterical traits. Before the lobotomy, she was religiously inclined, her brother being a preacher; afterward she insulted her brother, and spoke profanely and disdainfully of the church and religion. She now prefers dance music to hymns. She was irresponsible, always intending to complete her chores but never doing so. Four other cases were discussed. All, after observation periods ranging from 15 to 27 months, showed recovery phenomena similar to the case briefed above. L. M. F. 14 January, 1948