[Kurt Schneider's concept of cyclothymic mania in the light of a research-oriented catatonic syndrome].

Catatonic motor signs were specifically sought out in the case records of 89 episodes of Schneider-oriented mania. Only some so-called "minor" catatonic motor phenomena were found and "major" catatonic motor disturbances, recently reported to frequently occur in some American samples of mania, were completely absent. Indeed, the only motor abnormalities seen in Schneider-oriented mania appeared to be of a kind and degree typically associated with Kraepelins "hypomania". These findings are then primarily discussed in historical perspective and their relationships to some important modern research trends also highlighted.