Leslie Solyom

The effect of RNA on the operant conditioned behavior of white rats

This study was undertaken to determine whether exogenous RNA or its hydrolyzed components affect learning of an operant response. Three groups of 10 animals each were injected with (a) 160 mg/kg RNA, (b) 160 mg/kg hydrolyzed RNA, and (c) 0.5 cc normal saline respectively. Only whole RNA facilitates acquisition of a bar-pressing response.

An obsessive neurosis following morning glory seed ingestion treated by aversion relief

Abstract Obsessive neurosis developed following ingestion of morning glory seeds. Failure of other treatments—pharmacotherapy, psychotherapy and EST—to effect any lasting improvement led to treatment with aversion relief therapy. A total of seven sessions eliminated the symptoms. At a 4-yr follow-up he remains symptom-free.

Variables in the aversion relief therapy of phobics

An experiment was conducted to test the hypotheses that noxious stimulation rather than aversion relief changed the phobic patients motivation and led to improvement, and that the repeated tape presentations of a special phobic “narrative” led to an habituation effect, thence to improvement in phobias. Three groups of agora- and specific-phobic patients, matched as closely as possible on seven variables, were subjected to 24 half-hour sessions of aversion relief, pseudoconditioning, or habituation. Subjects were assessed before and after treatment: (a) by two independent psychiatrists, (b) on self-rating questionnaires, and (c) on psychometric tests. Statistically significant improvements occurred in the aversion relief group on several variables, including Fear Survey Schedule scores (p

A Case of Obsessive Neurosis Treated by Aversion Relief

Behaviour therapy, which has met with notable success in the treatment of phobic anxiety states and in different forms of sexual deviation, has been used in relatively few cases of obsessive neurosis, and in the few cases reported the results were poor (2). This is not surprising since no other treatment method, except perhaps leucotomy, has altered the course of this disease (3). A new technique of treating phobic patients reciprocal inhibition by aversion relief (4, 5)seemed, with some modification, to lend itself to the treatment of obsessive neurosis. The present case history describes the first application of this technique to an obsessive neurotic subject. dition on discharge was unimproved, subsequent marriage to her husband (with household assistance from her mother) enabled her to remain out of hospital until her admission to the Allan Memorial Institute. Both parents had marked obsessive personality features. The patient was brought up in a tense, unhappy atmosphere. Two of her three siblings, a brother now aged 51, and one of her sisters, now 47, were on tranquillizers for reasons unknown to the patient. As a schoolgirl, she was generally shy and submissive, given to daydreaming but a show-off in class. After matriculating from high school, the patient attended business college and then worked as a secretary. She has masturbated since the age of eight and has had strong sexual impulses since age 13 but actual experiences have been limited to her husband. These were apparently satisfactory. Her marriage, begun at age 39, is .basically happy and there is one daughter now nine years old.

Evaluation of a new treatment paradigm for phobias.

Behaviour therapies have an advantage over older, better established therapies in that they are not tied to concepts devised when uncontrolled observation was the only research tool. By using more sophisticated statistical and methodological techniques they are more amenable to change. When it became apparent that the technique of practical retraining had no greater effect in the treatment of phobias than psychotherapy (1) it was largely abandoned. Systematic desensitization, being limited by difficulties related to relaxation induction and the reproduction of the anxiety-provoking stimuli cannot be successfully employed for all patients. The treatment technique used in this study was designed to widen the applicability of behaviour therapies and particularly to treat those patients who could not learn to relax or visualize the anxiety-provoking situation basic requirements in the application of systematic desensitization. This report summarizes the result of a study of 40 phobic patients treated with this new technique, which has been detailed in an earlier publication (5). Method The initial psychiatric interview included a phobic questionnaire covering symptomatology apart from the phobic condition depressive, obsessive, etc., pertinent childhood experiences, and circumstances at the onset of the phobic anxiety state. Thereafter, they were requested to fill out the IPAT anxiety

A brief treatment of elevator phobia

Two patients suffering from elevator phobia volunteered to undergo food and water deprivation for 24 hr as part of the therapeutic approach. Food was then given during a 35-min exposure session in the elevator. Both patients reported great reduction in their fear and were able to take elevators in all situations. A second, booster session was administered 2 weeks later. During 2 yr of follow-up, there has been no recurrence of elevator phobia in either patient.

The relationship between ABO blood groups and schizophrenia. A report of negative findings.

It is less than a decade since the first scientifically valid study of a possible link between blood groups and schizophrenia was published. The results of the few articles which have appeared since then are contradictory and do not clarify the original problem. This might be due to insufficient evidence for diagnosing schizophrenia and to a lack of homogeneity in the patient population. To remedy this situation in the present study only those patients whose symptoms were characteristic of schizophrenia according to the criteria of either E. Bleuler or K. Schneider were accepted. Our results indicate no correlation between blood group and schizophrenia. Until schizophrenia can be diagnosed with the same certainty as can ABO blood groups, the relationship between them cannot be scientifically established.

A BRIEF TREATMENT OF ELEVATOR PHOBIA

Two patients suffering from elevator phobia volunteered to undergo food and water deprivation for 24 hr as part of the therapeutic approach. Food was then given during a 35-min exposure session in the elevator. Both patients reported great reduction in their fear and were able to take elevators in all situations. A second, booster session was administered 2 weeks later. During 2 yr of follow-up, there has been no recurrence of elevator phobia in either patient.