THE ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAM ASSOCIATED WITH CHRONIC ALCOHOLISM, ALCOHOLIC PSYCHOSIS AND ALCOHOLIC CONVULSIONS

Abstract

Since electroencephalography gives reliable data concerning one type of cerebral activity, this technic has been employed as an aid in the study of alcoholism and the alcoholic psychoses. Loomis and associates,¹ in 1936, studied a patient during an alcoholic stupor and noted increase in the brain potentials and slowing of the rhythm. Gibbs and associates² reported that administration of alcohol first increases the voltage of fast frequencies but that later, as consciousness is lost, slow rhythms appear. Rosenbaum and associates³ noted pathologic brain waves of the type seen in attacks of epilepsy in 4 patients with chronic alcoholism and convulsions. An important electroencephalographic study of alcoholism was carried out by Davis and her co-workers.⁴ In acute intoxication only slight changes occurred in the electroencephalogram, in spite of pronounced changes in mood, deportment and mental acuity; and clearly evident effects, namely, reduction in fast activity and a