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A Preliminary Account of the Clinical Effects of Polarizing the Brain in Certain Psychiatric Disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

J. W. T. Redfearn ,
O. C. J. Lippold  and
R. Costain
J. W. T. Redfearn
Affiliation:
From Graylingwell Hospital, Chichester, Sussex, and the Department of Physiology, University College, London
O. C. J. Lippold
Affiliation:
From Graylingwell Hospital, Chichester, Sussex, and the Department of Physiology, University College, London
R. Costain
Affiliation:
From Graylingwell Hospital, Chichester, Sussex, and the Department of Physiology, University College, London
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Extract

A previous paper (Lippold and Redfearn, 1964) described the mental changes that can be produced by the passage of small polarizing currents through the brain in human subjects. It became apparent during the course of these experiments that some of the effects persisted for hours or days after the current had been turned off. A persistent excitatory after-effect of surface-positive cortical polarization has recently been demonstrated in the rat (Bindman, Lippold and Redfearn, 1962). It is possible that a similar phenomenon, at the cellular level, is responsible for the long-lasting psychological effects of polarization.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 110 , Issue 469 , November 1964 , pp. 773 - 785
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1964 

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References

Bindman, L. J., Lippold, O. C. J., and Redfearn, J. W. T. (1962). “Long-lasting changes in the level of the electrical activity of the cerebral cortex produced by polarizing currents.” Nature, 196, 584–585.Google Scholar
Burns, B. D. (1957). “Electrophysiologic basis of normal and psychotic function”, in Psychotropic Drugs (ed. Garattini, S., and Ghetti, V.) Amsterdam: Elsevier. pp. 177–184.Google Scholar
Lippold, O. C. J., and Redfearn, J. W. T. (1964). “Mental changes resulting from the passage of small direct currents through the human brain.” Brit. J. Psychiat., 110, 768–772.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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