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Biomedical subjects

D R Aleksandrowicz

Publications and source records attributed to D R Aleksandrowicz.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1979

Endosulfan poisoning and chronic brain syndrome.

The author describes a case of acute poisoning by endosulfan (a chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticide) in an industrial worker, with residual psychiatric syndrome. The acute phase was manifested by repeated convulsions and impaired consciousness. After recovery the patient became disoriented and agitated. The residual phase, 2 years after initial hospitalization, was manifested by cognitive and emotional deterioration, severe impairment of memory and inability to perform any but the simplest tasks. Psychological tests revealed gross impairment of visual-motor coordination. The differential diagnosis of chronic brain syndrome requires accurate history and milder cases of endosulfan poisoning may easily be overlooked or misdiagnosed.

Bender-Gestalt Test↗
PubMed1977

Are there precursors to repression?

The author examines the possibility that repression has developed out of phylo- and ontogenetic precursors. The adaptive task of repression is to control instinctual behavior by screening out those stimuli (internal or external) which could trigger unacceptable behavior. Habituation, i.e., cessation of response to a repeated stimulis, is a mechanism for controlling behavior, with properties strikingly similar to repression. It operates by inhibiting sensory input, can discriminate and "recognize" the stimuli to be inhibited, and is impaired by brain damage, drugs (especially barbiturates), and perhaps also influenced by hypnosis. The author suggests that repression may be an evolutionary step from habituation, providing for inhibition of irrelevant as well as relevant but undesirable stimuli. In infants, habituation and withdrawal of attention from noxious stimuli operate through similar and perhaps identical mechanisms.

Habituation, Psychophysiologic↗
PubMed1975

The molding of personality: a newborn's innate characteristics in interaction with parents' personalities.

This report describes a girl who was studied by means of the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale from her 1st until her 28th day of life, observed at the age of 1 year, and, at the age of 1 1/2 years, was seen in a psychiatric family interview. The examinational data and history (obtained from the parents) present a picture of deviant development with exceptionally low orientation responsiveness and high excitability from the first hours of life. Carmel showed little ability to quiet herself and little response to soothing attempts. Motor development was normal throughout, physical health and growth were satisfactory, and intellectual development (assessed on the Vineland scale) was average. Carmel's continuous, inconsolable crying and lack of responsiveness led to a family adjustment with the passive, somewhat disorganized mother moving into the background and the anxious father taking over. He developed a way of keeping activity. This physical stimulation, coupled with overprotection (the father's tendency to interpose himself between the girl and other people) as well as controlling all frustration, resulted in a precarious balance at the price of Carmel's reduced autonomy, delay in adaptive ego functions, and severe stranger anxiety. The case illustrates the interaction between innate characteristics and parental attitudes, and the need for preventive counseling based on understanding a child's idiosyncratic behavior patterns.

Anesthesia, Obstetrical↗
PubMed1975

The case history of a happy child.

The authors describe the emotional development of a girl whose behavior was assessed on the Brazelton Scale at various neonatal stages eight times over the 1st month of her life, examined by a psychologist at the age of 12 months, and seen in a family interview at 22 months. The child's Brazelton Scale scores are compared with mean scores obtained in a previous study of 44 subjects. A profile of the girl's inborn characteristics emerges, including average motor ability, high responsiveness to social (human) stimuli and body contact, and high ability to reduce tension caused by unpleasant stimuli. This inborn profile is reflected in the follow-up at the age of 12 and 22 months: the child is average in motor development, but well above average in social skills, including ability to initiate interaction and evoke physical closeness. The parents are seen as tolerant and warm, but undemonstrative, and the parent-child interaction demonstrates how the girl's inborn characteristics play a role in molding the parents' attitudes in a direction more responsive to the child's emotional needs and thus achieving a successful "biological fit." The authors point out that a dynamic diagnostic formulation needs to include the innate characteristics of the subject and that one should recognize the role of the innate characteristics in the transference.

Adaptation, Psychological↗