Objective measurements taken from boys with and without a conduct disorder and with and without associated brain injury suggest that overactivity is a function of psychiatric disturbance rather than of an abnormality of the central nervous System. Very few of the children studied were consistently overactive or inattentive. Mothers' reports of overactivity tallied with a measure of conduct disturbance but not with objective measurements of activity or attention.

Cortical somatosensory evoked responses to stimuli of various intensities were recorded in a group of patients with a diagnosis of ‘psychogenic pain’ and in three separate control groups. Differences emerged in the relationship between stimulus intensity and response amplitude. It is suggested that patients with psychogenic pain tended to deal with small stimuli in the way in which the other groups of patients dealt with large stimuli.

Thirty-five males with double Y chromosome were studied. Among the features observed in certain subgroups of these 35 were a more than average height, minor vertebral abnormalities, abnormal seminiferous epithelium, minor EEG abnormalities, and a mean intelligence level significantly below the expected. Fifteen of the 35 were found in institutions for criminals. The frequency of XYY males among 1,500 criminal males was 8·67 per 1,000 compared with 1·24 per 1,000 among 6,455 randomly selected males in the general population. Males with double Y chromosome tended to have more difficulties at school, to be more mentally immature, to be more impulsive than their siblings, and to have more difficulty in making relationships with others.

A study of four 47XYY subjects and their families is reported. These subjects were all exceptionally tall; were mostly of good intelligence and from intelligent families; and all had a history of delinquency or criminality, although they came from respectable homes. Evidence is presented, however, to suggest that both adverse environmental influences and constitutional factors other than their supernumary chromosomes nevertheless operated in these cases, indicating that their deviant behaviour need not be directly related to their chromosomal abnormality. The implications of these findings are discussed with respect especially to their bearing on conclusions drawn in the literature on the XYY syndrome.

Depressed patients were followed-up after 10 months, and factor scores reflecting respectively general severity, the endogenous-neurotic distinction, and an admixture of anxiety versus depression were used as predictors. The main prognostic relationships were with the endogenous-neurotic distinction and provided validating evidence for it. Endogenous depressives showed generally better prognoses. Individual rating variables used to derive the factors showed little relationship to outcome and prediction appeared to derive from a summation of elements relevant to the endogenous-neurotic distinction across many variables.

The psychomotor performance of patients with presenile dementia was investigated in two experiments. It was found that motor retardation in dementia was due more to impaired effector processes rather than slowness in deciding when and where to move.

Forty-five patients with analgesic nephropathy showed a trend towards introversion and neuroticism on the Eysenck Personality Inventory. Other analgesic abusers without renal impairment also showed these traits, while controls with renal disease not due to analgesie abuse were significantly less introverted and neurotic. It is suggested that these personality traits predisposed the patients to analgesie abuse and therefore to renal damage.

In 1971 a national random sample of 388 consultant psychiatrists answered questions about their views and practices in relation to abortion. Ten per cent of the consultants who saw relevant age groups had no patients for abortion assessment in 1970, while 5% had 100 or more (mean estimated number = 26). The process of referral, consultation, decision-making, and follow-up is looked at, as are the psychiatrists' views on abortion. Their views and practices are seen to vary with their religion and with their links with teaching hospitals, although not with their age, sex, or marital status.

Treatment of neurosis is selectively surveyed, including physical methods. At least four differing aims of psychotherapeutic techniques can be distinguished—to produce a rewarding experience; to nurture self-knowledge; to allow confession or catharsis; and to effect a lasting change in behaviour. The report concentrates on the last two aims. Effects of psychological treatments are considered first by syndromes and then by procedures. Prognostic issues are defined and research strategies outlined. Further work is suggested, including the relief of acute neurotic distress before referral for specialist help, the combination of psychotropic drugs and psychological treatments, the application of specific psychotherapeutic techniques for defined ends, and elucidation of the active therapeutic ingredients in these methods.

In 1960, the National Institute of Mental Health of the U.S.A. provided research support to Professor H. O. Schild of the Department of Pharmacology, University College London (U.C.L.) and to Dr. (now Professor) Michael Shepherd of the Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, University of London, for studies in human psychopharmacology. The research assistants initially employed were Dr. Lorna Wing, Dr. J. D. Montagu, and Dr. Malcolm Lader and work was carried out at U.C.L., the Institute of Psychiatry, and Runwell Hospital, Essex. In 1966, the Medical Research Council assumed responsibility by appointing Dr. Lader to their External Scientific Staff. Other support has come from the Bethlem Research Fund and from the pharmaceutical industry, in particular Roche (U.K.) Ltd. and May and Baker, Ltd. A group of six to eight workers has thus been built up based mainly in the Institute of Psychiatry but with continuing links to U.C.L. At present our team comprises pharmacologists, psychiatrists, psychologists, a physiologist, a chemist, and a mathematician. Several workers from abroad on British Council or Commonwealth Fellowships have been attached to the team at various times, and students for higher degrees such as PhD and MD have been welcomed.