[Effect of psychosocial risks on the maturation of EEG background activity in early childhood brain-damaged children]. / Der Einfluss psychosozialer Risiken auf die Reifung der EEG-Hintergrundaktivität bei frühkindlich hirngeschädigten Kindern.

Age-dependent changes in EEG activity were assessed in a comparison of EEG recordings taken from 102 children at the ages of 6 and 10 years. Of the 2-to-13-cycle-a-second activity recorded from the left occipital region, the fast alpha frequencies (10 to 13 cycles a second) showed a significant increase at the expense of all slower frequencies. The children were divided into two groups according to whether they had been exposed to a small or large number of biological risks; in the latter group the extent of the increase in fast alpha activity was negatively related to the number of additional psychosocial risks. This effect was even more pronounced in the group of brain-damaged children, where the smallest age-dependent shift in the EEG frequencies was seen in the group with both minimal brain damage and a high psychosocial risk factor. These data suggest that the exposure of children with minimal brain damage to multiple psychosocial risks may lead to a delay in the maturation of the brain that can be detected by neurophysiological methods.

[Significance of latency and amplitude values of the visual evoked potential in children with early childhood brain damage]. / Die Bedeutung von Latenz- und Amplitudenwerten des optisch evozierten Potentials bei frühkindlich hirngeschädigten Kindern.

The latency and amplitude data of optically evoked potentials (unipolar from the vertex) were measured during the 50-200 ms interval in a group of normal boys (n = 26) and a group of boys with brain damage sustained during early childhood (n = 38). The latency periods were sometimes significantly longer and the amplitudes larger (flash stimulus) and smaller (pattern stimulus) respectively in the brain damaged than in the normal subjects. In view of the results of clinical, neurological and psychological examinations, these phenomena must be attributed to delayed maturation of the central nervous functional system.

[Status and development of pediatric neuropsychiatry]. / Stand und Entwicklung der Kinderneuropsychiatrie.

Definition of the term and the working field of child neuropsychiatry. Report on the development of the section Child Neuropsychiatry since 1962 into a subspecialised field with a secured prospect of the care of outpatients, of the inpatients establishments and an academic field of teaching and research.

[Why child neuropsychiatry?]. / Warum Kinderneuropsychiatrie?

The author gives a brief survey of the development of Child-Neuropsychiatry in the G.D.R. and subsequently gives reasons for the decision in favor of the unity of neurology and psychiatry as applied to children and juveniles, which is in contrast to developments in other countries. In addition to hygienic, economic, organizational, and medical considerations, this decision was also determined by the fact that a Child-Neuropsychiatrist must, in his practical work as a subspecialist, be able to head a multiprofessional team and, thus, help assure optimum development of a child's personality.

[The motormetric Rostock-Oseretzky scale]. / Die motometrische Rostock-Oseretzky-Skala

A new motometric scale with 24 tasks was designed taking into account Oseretzky tasks. It was standardized with 325 normal school children ranging in age from 5 to 11 years. The normal presentation in form of C scales and MQ scales, resp., allows a qualitative evaluation of the motor development irrespective of the age of the child. Furthermore, the procedure allows an improvement in the successful diagnosis of cerebral lesions in early infancy; this was verified by an examination of 92 children with proved brain lesions or high risk births. Details are given on the reliability, validity with reference to criteria, and diagnostic value of the scale. The procedure is economic as far as the necessary time is concerned and therefore it can also be applied in the treatment of out-patients.

[Development of motoricity as functional-neurologic diagnosis]. / Die Entwicklung der Motorik als funktionell-neurologische Diagnostik.

Movement is one of the characteristic features of a living organism. The movements of human beings are controlled by the brain via the nervous system. Disturbances in the development of the brain therefore also manifest themselves in the organization and course of motoricity. The normal and pathological development of the child--from birth through to maturation--therefore also shows itself in the differentiation of motoricity and psychomotoricity. In the first three years of life the organization of motor coordination is even the most reliable indicator of normal somatic and psychic development and of the functional capacity of the central nervous system. The author discuss at length: The development of tonicity. The diagnostically most significant reflex mechanisms of neonates; time of occurrence and disappearance within the framework of the integration of voluntary movements. Motometric studies for determining the various coordinative capacities, the discussion centering on: The motor functions of the maturation test. Examinations of small children using the methods developed by Griffith, Brunet-Lézine. Metric scale according to Oseretzky, mimic scale according to Kwint. Disturbances of writing motoricity. Coordinative examinations on juveniles and adolescents. The motor diagnosis may be carried out without the need for using a larger number of apparatus and instruments and--provided broad methods of examination and longitudinal-section controls are employed--permits to obtain results, the reliability of which is not at present surpassed by those obtained using any other method.