Nervous reactivity changes in patients with late post-traumatic mental disturbances.

A polygraphic study of 105 patients with late-post-traumatic psychiatric disturbances and 158 matched subjects in two control groups has shown marked differences in nervous reactivity. The differences, estimated by testing the electrographic components of the orienting reaction elicited by a repetitive auditory stimulus and its habituation were expressed by changes in the intensity, resistance to habituation, and sequence of habituation of the somatic, autonomic, and EEG components. The character and severity of alterations depended on the site of the traumatic impact, lesional aspect of the craniocerebral trauma, clinical picture of mental disturbances, and features of the EEG tracings.