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Two forms of neuroses--neurasthenia and hysteria--show statistically definitive differences in the EEG patterns. In the initial EEGs of neurasthenic patients, as a rule, more or less marked alpha-rhythm is preserved, whereas the EEG in hysteria in most cases consists of low amplitude fast frequencies ("flat" EEG) and only in 30-35% cases short episodes of alpha-waves can be recorded. In the course of medical treatment the index alpha often increases and the EEG gradually obtains normal features. One of the most favourable signs of convalescence is the renewal of the ability to develop the phase of drowsiness with the stage B in the EEG, during which the outburst of alpha-waves is recorded as a reaction to stimulation.

Behaviours of 40 healthy, 30 neurotic and 35 schizophrenic subjects were compared in the situation of formation of motivation for successful performance of a complicated task. In the case of an easy task, the subjects had to push a button maximally quickly after the second buzz in a double sound stimulus; in the case of the complicated task, after special motivating instruction, the subjects had to show motor response coinciding with the second buzz. The easy task was performed by all participants of the experiment, while the complicated one was performed by healthy subjects and by neurotics after the course of therapy. The differences in the performance were accompanied by specific peculiarities in brain slow potentials. The successful performance induced an increase in the strength of conditional negative and post-imperative negative waves in frontal lobes in the healthy and treated neurotics. Pathological functioning of schizophrenics reflected in quantitative and qualitative modifications of the electrical response patterns.

The authors studied 25 patients with psychasthenic psychopathy who according to the clinical picture were divided into 2 groups: psychasthenics proper and anankasts. The results of the study permitted to detect some correlations between the clinical traits and neurophysiological interconnections between the cortex and nonspecific subcortical structures. Such correlations were made on the basis of a multicomponent structure of the orientation reaction (especially the EEG reactions and SGR) to stimula of different modality and background bioelectrical activity of the brain.

The shapes of the slow brain potentials--conditioned negative wave (CNW) and postimperative negative wave (PNW)--were compared in normal and neurotic subjects. Instruction-directed performance was used to investigate the physiological mechanisms of neuroses and to develop the diagnostic psychophysiologic tests with simultaneous recording of the slow potentials. These were evaluated by calculation of asymmetry and power amplification coefficients for CNW and PNW while more and more complicated instructions were given.

A subtest ("lineograms") of Mira Lopez's method was used for investigating interhemispheral functional asymmetry in 42 patients with schizophrenia, 102 patient-with various neuroses, and 40 psychically healthy subjects. It was found that the character and degree of the asymmetry in the patients with schizophrenia and neuroses differed from those observed in the healthy subjects. The results obtained show a high informative value of the method used for examining the interhemispheral interrelations in psychic diseases, and well agree with the presently existing concepts on relative functional specialization of the psychic activity of each brain hemisphere and the central nervous system peculiarities characteristic of some forms of neuroses.

The paper is related to studies of the sympathico-adrenal activity, hypophysisadrenal and entero-chromaphine systems in patients with hysterical and phobic neuroses. They detected certain regularities in the initial activities of these systems as well as of their reactivity depending upon the character of the functional symptom, psychological personality traits and cerebral dysfunctions.