[Brain function disorders in 8-year-old children--from a field and consultation population].

The concept of "cerebral dysfunction" was investigated in a several years' epidemiological study involving eight-year-olds in a general population and those seen in a child guidance clinic. Some of the findings differed markedly from what is commonly asserted. The yielded results indicate that brain dysfunctions do not form a single uniform syndrome, that the afflicted children do not show a specific psychopathology and that the disorders can not be traced back to a uniform etiology. The relevance of brain dysfunctions for the child psychiatric morbidity could be proved.