Abnormal intestinal absorption has been suggested as an aetiological factor in schizophrenia. A procedure for investigating intestinal permeability was carried out in a group of chronic psychiatric in-patients. A proportion of the subjects studied showed abnormal intestinal permeability which could not be attributed to established bowel disease. Patients who were receiving neuroleptic but not anticholinergic drugs were those most often showing abnormal intestinal permeability. This work is at an early stage of development but preliminary findings suggest that further investigations should be carried out to establish the circumstances in which changes in intestinal permeability may be associated with mental illness.

A population-based study of infantile autism from western Sweden has been completed. Urban children with autism more often than age-matched children in the general population had immigrant parents from ‘exotic’ countries. No such trend was seen in rural children with infantile autism.

A case of cerebellar haemangioblastoma in described in a middle-aged woman with a history of multiple psychiatric admissions for depressive and psychosomatic symptomatology. The diagnosis was not made until a late stage, largely because of the knowledge of her psychiatric history and its particular slant. Similar psychiatric symptoms were present at the outset, colouring the emerging neurological picture. The clinical manifestations and management of cerebellar haemangioblastoma are described.

A case of schizophreniform episode following measles infection in a 27-year-old woman is presented. The possibility that the clinical picture is a first description in the literature of an association between a schizophreniform episode and possible measles-induced allergic encephalitis is discussed. Other possible connections between measles infection and schizophreniform episode are also mentioned.

Three patients suffering from bipolar affective disorder, manic phase, and who were resistant to conservative treatment were successfully treated with clonidine. This would support the nor-adrenergic hyperactivity theory of mania. The rapidity of action of clonidine and its lack of relatively serious side-effects renders it a potential alternative to conventional anti-manic agents.

Data from five behaviour management (token economy) units were analysed for periods of 10–20 weeks before and after the use of a food substitute (Complan®), provided when insufficient tokens had been earned to buy a full- or part-meal. The efficacy of this form of negative punishment to control disturbed and aggressive behaviour was examined. No evidence was found to suggest that the contingent use of a food substitute made any contribution to the therapeutic process.

A prospective evaluation of Schneider's first-rank symptoms in 56 Nigerians with RDC schizophrenia gave a prevalence of 73%. The presence of first-rank symptoms was unrelated to schizophrenic subtypes, duration or severity of illness. While some of the symptoms correlate with age of patients, the pattern of inter-correlations among them supports previous views about their empirical heterogeneity.

Beck's original book on cognitive therapy was published in the USA in 1976 but not reviewed in the Journal until December 1979 (139, 582–583). The review was favourable. A second book (Beck et al, 1979) was not reviewed, although by then there was a substantial and growing literature on cognitive approaches to treatment.