Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-04-28
MENTAL ILLS LAID
TO BRAIN CHANGES
Academy Hears Theory That
CoaguIation or DisbursaI
Causes Insanity.

The theory Of the chemistry of the
mind. with far-reaching implications
for the diagnosis and treatment Of
mental diseases, was presented to the
National Academy Of Sciences today by
DR.. wilder D. Bancroft OF Cornell
University.
On the basis Of experiments, he ex-
planned, insanity and abnormal think
ing are due to chemical changes In the
colloid material Of the brain. These
changes, he said, might be Of two sorts,
essentially thickening or thinning of
the colloid material In the brain.
Coagulation, he said. Gamble produced
experimentally by certain drugs notably
bromides and sodium thio-cyEnate.
D1shurSal can be produced IN the same
way BY etcaaIse, afnytal and similar
drugs. Each condition can be alleyiatcd
to some extent at least by using drug
which WIN produce the opposite effect.
Drug Produces Insanity.
DR.. Bancroft thus divided All insane
ity into two classes, differentiated on
the basis of the thickness or thinness
Of the brain colloids. He said that this
chemical method gives physicians a
sure way of diagnosing mental diseases.
At present practically all such dag
noses are made on the basis Of behavior
systems which, he said, may be precisely
though due TO entirely different dis
eases. 80
He reported actually noting the APP
pearance Of Authorizations and delu-
sions Of persecution In O person given
sodium thio-cynate for high blood
pressure and the disappearance Of these
symptoms when the treatment was dis
continued. This amounted to an ex-
perimental production Of insanity. Per-
haps the best method for treating this
condition. he indicated, Is with caffine,
the drug found in coffee.
Sleep Brings Brain Changes.
There Il reason to believe, DR.. Ban
croft said, that the normal person
passes through period Of instantly
every time he goes to sleep or wakes up,
which actions involve the two processes
In the brain colloids.
He pointed out the period Of irrita-
bility which Is almost always found In
person going under an aneSthetic
The same thing IN lesser degree takes
place when one goes to sleep. The
confused mental state which every one
1laS NLlcu WakuiB ~ AiBut, LII. BAN
croft said, probably Is very similar to
sthe mental state of insane persons
and is due to the same causes.
The dreams Of normal people and
the visions Of persons under the m
fiuence of opium, he said, probably are
close TO insanity and. are due to the
changed condition Of the brain coll
Ioids.
Breasted Tells Mans Origin.
The vast darkness of a million
years" between the physical appear
ance Of man on earth and the dawn of
European history is being penetrated
by shovels of IL American expeditions
now at work in Egypt and Asia Minor,
DR.. James H. Breasted, director Of the
Oriental Institute of the University Of
Chicago, told tie academy last night.
Already, he said, the Egyptian ex-
cavations have shown that the great
prehistoric drought that changed the
Eastern Sahara plateau from luxllriant
forest to a desert probably was largely
responsible for the beginnings Of civili-
zatiOn. The progressive drought, he
said. drove both the prehistoric hunters
and the animals. they hunted into the
fertile Nile Valley. The enforced close
association of men and animals in this
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