Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T07:58:12.176Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Development as a Unifying Concept in Psychiatry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Leon Eisenberg*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; Children's Hospital Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA

Extract

A quotation from Edward Mapother can serve admirably as text for this address: ‘In practically all properly investigated cases of insanity, it is found that it is the result of a summation of multiple causes, effective in combination, though inadequate singly. It is this that renders all controversy between extremists of the physiogenic and psychogenic schools so futile’ (Lewis, 1969, p 1359). In the same year, 1922, in his Salmon Lecture, Adolf Meyer said: ‘The overmechanization of psychiatry … (has) led to too much reliance on chemistry and physiology as curealls in mental ills, while psychoanalysis, by laying too much emphasis on the subconscious and sex, has lost sight of the … functions of the conscious mind and has … disregarded the fact that man is subject to physical … biological … and social laws' (Meyer, 1922).

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists 1977 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Annis, R. C. & Frost, B. (1973) Human visual ecology and orientation anisotropics in acuity. Science, 182, 729–31.Google Scholar
Bach, F. H. & Van Rood, J. J. (1976) The major histocompatibility complex—genetics and biology (3 parts). New England Journal of Medicine, 295, 806–13; 872–8; 927–36.Google Scholar
Bengoa, J. M. (1974) The problem of malnutrition. WHO Chronicle, 28, 37.Google Scholar
Birch, H. G. & Gussow, J. D. (1970) Disadvantaged Children: Health, Nutrition and School Failure, New York: Harcourt, Brace and World.Google Scholar
Birch, H. G., Richardson, S. A., Baird, D., Horobin, G. & Illsley, R. (1970) Mental Subnormality in the Community. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins.Google Scholar
Black, F. L. (1975) Infectious disease in primitive societies. Science, 187, 515–18.Google Scholar
Brady, R. O. (1976) Inherited metabolic diseases of the nervous system. Science, 193, 733–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Buchsbaum, M. S., Coursey, R. D. & Murphy, D. L. (1976) The biochemical high risk paradigm: behavioral and familial correlates of low platelet monoamine oxidase activity. Science, 194, 339–41.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cavalli-Sforza, L. L. & Bodmer, W. F. (1971) The Genetics of Human Populations. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman and Co.Google Scholar
Childs, B. (1965) Genetic origins of some sex differences among human beings. Pediatrics, 35, 798812.Google Scholar
Childs, B., Zinkham, W. H., Browne, E. A., Kimbro, E. L. & Torbert, J. V. (1958) A genetic study of a defect in glutathione metabolism of the erythrocyte. Bulletin of Johns Hopkins Hospital, 102, 2137.Google Scholar
Creutzfeldt, O. D. & Heggelund, P. (1974) Neural plasticity in visual cortex of adult cats after exposure to visual patterns. Science, 188, 1025–7.Google Scholar
Cynader, M. & Chernenko, G. (1976) Abolition of direction selectivity in the visual cortex of the cat. Science, 193, 504–5.Google Scholar
Dobbing, J. (1972) Vulnerable periods of brain development. In Lipids, Malnutrition and the Developing Brain. A Ciba Foundation Symposium, Elsevier/Excerpta Medica/North-Holland, London, pp 2030 .Google Scholar
Editorial (1976) Vaccination against measles. Lancet, ii, 132–4.Google Scholar
Eisenberg, L. (1957) Psychiatric aspects of brain damage in children. Psychiatric Quarterly, 31, 7292.Google Scholar
Eisenberg, L. (1964) Behavioral manifestations of cerebral damage in childhood. In Brain Damage in Children (ed. Birch, H. G.), pp 6176. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins.Google Scholar
Eisenberg, L. (1972) The human nature of human nature. Science, 176, 123–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eisenberg, L. (1973) Psychiatric intervention. Scientific American, 229, 116–27.Google Scholar
Eisenberg, L. (1975) Primary prevention and early detection in mental illness. Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, 51, 118–29.Google Scholar
Eisenberg, L. (1976) The outcome as cause: predestination and human cloning. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy. 1, 318–31.Google Scholar
Eisenberg, L. (1976) On the differential distribution of psychiatric disorders by sex. Conference on ‘Le Fait Feminin’, Royaumont Centre for a Science of Man, Paris, 3–5 September.Google Scholar
Eisenberg, L. (1977) Psychiatry and society: a psychobiological overview. New England Journal of Medicine. In press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eisenberg, L. & Earls, F. J. (1975) Poverty, social depreciation and child development. In American Handbook of Psychiatry. Vol. VI (ed. Hamburg, D. A.), pp 275–91. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Ellis, C. E. & Hill, D. E. (1975) Growth, intelligence and school performance in children with cystic fibrosis who have had an episode of malnutrition during infancy. Journal of Paediatrics, 87, 565–8.Google Scholar
Feldman, M. W. & Lewontin, R. C. (1975) The heritability hang-up. Science, 190, 1163–8.Google Scholar
Fisch, R. O., Bilek, M. K., Horrobin, J. M. & Chang, P. N. (1976) Children with superior intelligence at 7 years of age. American Journal of Diseases of Children, 130, 481–7.Google Scholar
Fishler, K., Donnell, G. N., Bergren, W. R. & Koch, R. (1972) Intellectual and personality development in children with galactosemia. Pediatrics, 50, 412–19.Google Scholar
Freeman, R. D., Mitchell, D. E. & Millodot, M. (1972) A neural effect of partial visual deprivation in humans. Science, 175, 1384–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Frisch, R. E. (1970) Present status of the supposition that malnutrition causes permanent mental retardation. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 23, 189–95.Google Scholar
Gershon, E. S., Baron, M. & Leckman, J. F. (1975) Genetic models of the transmission of affective disorders. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 12, 301–17Google Scholar
Gottesman, I. J. & Shields, J. (1967) A polygenic theory of schizophrenia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (U.S.A.), 58, 199205.Google Scholar
Graham, P., Rutter, M. & George, S. (1973) Temperamental characteristics as predictors of behaviour disorders in children. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 43, 328–39.Google Scholar
Haldane, J. B. S. (1957) Natural selection in man. Acta Genetica Statistica Medica, 6, 321–32.Google Scholar
Harris, H. & Hopkinton, D. A. (1972) Average heterozygosity per locus in man: an estimate based on the incidence of genetic polymorphisms. Annals of Human Genetics, 36, 920.Google Scholar
Hertzig, M. E., Birch, H. G., Richardson, S. A. & Tizard, J. (1972) Intellectual levels of school children severely malnourished during the first two years of life. Pediatrics, 49, 814–24.Google Scholar
Higgins, J. (1976) Effects of child rearing by schizophrenic mothers: a follow-up. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 13, 19.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hsia, D. Y.-Y. (ed.) (1968) Galactosemia. Springfield: C. C. Thomas.Google Scholar
Hubel, D. H. & Wiesel, T. N. (1963) Receptive fields of cells m striate cortex of very young, visually inexperienced kittens. Journal of Neurophysiology, 26, 9941002.Google Scholar
Hubel, D. H. & Wiesel, T. N. (1965) Binocular interaction in striate cortex of kittens reared with artificial squint. Journal of Neurophysiology, 28, 1041–59.Google Scholar
Hubel, D. H. & Wiesel, T. N. (1970) The period of susceptibility to the physiological effects of unilateral eye closure in kittens. Journal of Physiology, 206, 419–36.Google Scholar
Hunt, J. McV. (1965) Traditional personality theory in the light of recent evidence. American Scientist, 53, 8095.Google ScholarPubMed
Jacob, F. (1973) The Logic of Life: A History of Heredity. New York: Pantheon Books.Google Scholar
Kasamatsu, T. & Pettigrew, J. D. (1976) Depletion of brain catecholamines: failure of ocular dominance shift after monocular occlusion in kittens. Science, 194, 206–9.Google Scholar
Kety, S. S. (1974) From rationalization to reason. American Journal of Psychiatry, 131, 957–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kety, S. S. (1976) Studies designed to disentangle genetic and environmental variables in schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 133, 1134–7.Google ScholarPubMed
Klaus, M. H. & Kennell, J. H. (1976) Maternal-Infant Bonding, p 114. St Louis: Mosby.Google Scholar
Kohn, M. L. (1976) The interaction of social class and other factors in the etiology of schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 133, 177–80.Google ScholarPubMed
Lewis, A. (1969) Edward Mapother and the making of the Maudsley Hospital (the First Mapother Lecture). British Journal of Psychiatry, 115, 1349–66.Google Scholar
Lewontin, R. C. (1972) The apportionment of human diversity. Evolutionary Biology, 6, 381–98.Google Scholar
Lewontin, R. C. (1974) The analysis of variance and the analysis of causes. American Journal of Human Genetics, 26, 400–11.Google Scholar
Lloyd-Still, J. D., Hurwitz, I., Wolff, P. H. & Schwachman, H. (1974) Intellectual development after severe malnutrition in infancy Pediatrics, 54, 306–11CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Luzzatto, L., Usanga, E. A. & Reddy, S. (1969) Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficient red cells: resistance to infection by malarial parasites. Science, 164, 839–41.Google Scholar
Maffei, L. & Bisti, S. (1976) Binocular interaction in strabismic kittens deprived of vision. Science, 191, 579–80.Google Scholar
Matthysse, S. W. & Kidd, K. K. (1976) Estimating the genetic contribution to schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 133, 185–91.Google Scholar
Meyer, A. (1922) Thomas W. Salmon Memorial Lectures. New York Academy of Medicine, cited in Lief, A. (1948) The Commonsense Psychiatry of Dr. Adolf Meyer, pp 547–9. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Murphy, D. L., Belmaker, R. & Wyatt, R. J. (1974) Monoamine oxidase in schizophrenia and other behavioral disorders. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 11, 221–47.Google Scholar
National Research Council (1975) Genetic Screening: Programs, Principles and Research. Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences.Google Scholar
Nies, A., Robinson, D. S., Lamborn, K. R. & Lampert, R. P. (1973) Genetic control of platelet and plasma monoamine oxidase activity. Archives of General Psychiatry, 28, 834–8.Google Scholar
Omerod, W. E. (1976) Ecological effect of control of African trypanosomiasis. Science, 191, 815–21.Google Scholar
Pettigrew, J. D. & Freeman, R. D. (1973) Visual experience without lines: effect on developing cortical neurons. Science, 182, 599601.Google Scholar
Reiss, D. (1976) The family and schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 133, 181–5.Google Scholar
Richardson, S. A. (1974) The background histories of schoolchildren severely malnourished in infancy. Advances in Pediatrics, 21, 167–95.Google Scholar
Richardson, S. A. (1976) The relation of severe malnutrition in infancy to the intelligence of school children with differing life histories. Pediatric Research, 10, 5761.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rutter, M. (1966) Children of Sick Parents: An Environmental and Psychiatric Study. Maudsley Monograph No. 16. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. (1972) Maternal Deprivation Reassessed. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. (1976) Research report: Institute of Psychiatry Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Psychological Medicine, 6, 505–16.Google Scholar
Rutter, M., Graham, P. & Yule, W. A. (1970a) A Neuropsychiatric Study in Childhood. Clinics in Developmental Medicine 35/36. London: William Heinemann/S.I.M.P.Google Scholar
Rutter, M., Tizard, J. & Whitmore, K. (1970b) Education, Health and Behaviour. London: Longmans, Green.Google Scholar
Rutter, M., Cox, A., Tupling, C., Berger, M. & Yule, W. (1975a) Attainment and adjustment in two geographic areas. I. The prevalence of psychiatric disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry, 126, 493509.Google Scholar
Rutter, M., Yule, B., Quinton, D., Rowlands, O., Yule, W. & Berger, M. (1975b) Attainment and adjustment in two geographic areas. III. Some factors accounting for area differences. British Journal of Psychiatry, 126, 520–33.Google Scholar
Rutter, M., Tizard, J., Yule, W., Graham, P. & Whitmore, K. (1976) Research report: Isle of Wight studies, 1964–1974. Psychological Medicine, 6, 313–32.Google Scholar
Scarr-Salpatek, S. & Williams, M. L. (1973) The effects of early stimulation on low-birth-weight infants. Child Development, 44, 94101.Google Scholar
Schneirla, T. C. (1957) The concept of development in comparative psychology. In The Concept of Development (ed. Harris, D. B.), pp 78108. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.Google Scholar
Scriver, C. R. (1976) Genetics: voyage of discovery for everyman. Pediatric Research, 10, 865–72.Google Scholar
Seidel, U. P., Chadwick, O. F. D. & Rutter, M. (1975) Psychological disturbances in physically disabled children. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 17, 563–73.Google Scholar
Shaffer, D., McNamara, N. & Pincus, J. H. (1974) Controlled observations on patterns of activity, attention and impulsivity in brain-damaged and psychiatrically disturbed boys. Psychological Medicine, 4, 418.Google Scholar
Slater, E. & Cowie, V. (1971) The Genetics of Mental Disorders. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Spinelli, D. N., Hirsch, H. V. B., Phelps, R. W. & Metzler, J. (1971) Modification of the distribution of receptive field organization in cats by selective visual exposure during development. Experimental Brain Research, 12, 509–27.Google Scholar
Timney, B. N. & Muir, D. W. (1976) Orientation anisotropy: incidence and magnitude in Caucasian and Chinese subjects. Science, 193, 699701.Google Scholar
Trimble, B. K. & Doughty, J. H. (1974) The amount of hereditary disease in a human population. Annals of Human Genetics (London), 38, 199223.Google Scholar
Valman, H. B. (1974) Intelligence after malnutrition caused by neonatal resection of ileum. Lancet, i, 425–7.Google Scholar
Verbrugge, L. M. (1975) Sex Differences in Illness and Death in the United States. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Center for Metropolitan Planning and Research.Google Scholar
Watson, J. D. (1976) Molecular Biology of the Gene (yd Edition). New York: W. A. Benjamin.Google Scholar
Wender, P. H., Rosenthal, D., Kety, S. S., Schulsinger, F. & Welner, J. (1974) Cross-fostering: a research strategy for clarifying the role of genetic and experiential factors in the etiology of schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry, 30, 121–8.Google Scholar
Werner, E. E., Bierman, J. E. & French, F. E. (1971) The Children of Kauai. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.Google Scholar
Wiener, G., Rider, R. V., Oppel, W. C. & Harper, P. A. (1968) Correlates of low birth weight: psychological status at 8 to 10 years of age. Pediatric Research, 2, 110–18.Google Scholar
Wiesel, T. N. & Hubel, D. H. (1965) Comparison of the effects of unilateral and bilateral eye closure on cortical unit responses in kittens. Journal of Neurophysiology, 28, 1029–40.Google Scholar
Winick, M. & Rosso, P. (1969) Head circumference and cellular growth of the brain in normal and marasmic children. Journal of Paediatrics, 74, 774–8.Google Scholar
Winick, M., Rosso, P. & Brasel, J. A. (1972) Malnutrition and cellular growth in the brain: existence of critical periods. In Lipids, Malnutrition and the Developing Brain. A Ciba Foundation Symposium, pp 199206. London: Elsevier/Excerpta Medica/North-Holland.Google Scholar
Winokur, G. (1976) Genetics of depression. Presented at Symposium on Brain Biology and Mental Diseases, Foundation pour la Recherche Médicale Française, Paris, 4 October 1976.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.