Evening star., 1941-11-12
Electric Brain Waves
Provide One Clue
ToPerson'S Behavior
Meanings Of Only q Few
Have Been Diagnosed
SO Far, However
BY HOWARD w. BLAKESLEE,

ny hOV AMI W. DLhhLSALLS
The Stars Special News Service.
NEW YORK, Nov. 12.-What are
the wild human waves saying?
These waves are the electrical
ones which flow ceaselessly from
the brain centers Of man, woman or
! child.
They are probably the widest Of
all waves, in diversity o. shape,
sizes and speeds
Now that millions of them have
been studied by scientists in the
last six years, in what is a new field
of diagnosing human beings, some
of their meanings are beginning to
| become clear.
They are used by surgeons,
| physicians. alienists. or even the
family doctor may have them taken
to explain why Junior acts that way.
| These waves are as common as
fingerprints. A couple of electrical
pickups pasted to the scalp will
record them any time, for any per-
| son.
Electrical Pulsations.
They are electrical pulsations Of
few millionths of volt each
They cannot ever be felt. But an
amplifying set writes them on a
moving strip of paper, like an end
less chain of waves drawn by
careless penman.
For most people, most of the time,
when awake. they look like string
of script letter Ms written end to
end But with moods. emotions,
alcohol, illness. misbehavior some
times, and mental troubles often.
they change. Each wave represents
some sort OF action within the brain.
Reading their meanings Is like
standing on the shore OF New York
Harbor in a blackout when nothing
can be seen but the waves coming
ashore at your feet. If q large
liner went past In the darkness its
presence could be guessed by the
regularity and size OF its rollers.
But put thousands Of craft in this
darkened harbor. all In motion In
conflicting directions, and try to
identify each one. far or near, by
even the slight ripples that 1t super
imposes on other waves. and you
have exactly the problem Of the
wild human brain waves.
. All Shapes and Sizes.
Furthermore these electrical waves
include shapes that never existed
on all the seven seas. Some look
like the wonderful forms OF the
musical waves appearing in oseillo-
graphs.
The human alcoholic brain wave
sometimes has the musical beauty.
It may assume the form of . spire
studded with gracefully curved
ornaments.
This alcoholic symmetry. how
ever. Is never a sign that the In
toxicated person Is about to burst
into song. Its variations, 80 far,
have no indexed meanings.
The human waves roll usually at
the rate of about 10 second. But
speeds may be much slower or
faster. Speeds alone are often sig
nificant of trouhles although not
always. Thus. sleep slows the
waves. So do some forms Of serious
mental trouble.
Emotions are likely to form waves
irregular In timing or size, or both.
Apprehension, nervousness or any
sudden alarm will slow them. Con-
centrated mental effort also pro-
duces slow waves.
None to Identity Intelligence.
But If there Is q wave to identity
intelligence. 1t has not yet been
found Ounce and genius, in nor
NAL health. are likely to have waves
! too similar to be distinguished. The
waves are slow in children. UP 70
about age 8. and after that take on
the adult pattern.
The best identified wave Is an oc-
casional spike appearing among the
normal Ms. as a sign Of epilepsy.
/ Occasionally epilepsy Is found by
this wave before any other sign
| appears.
Insanity, mental troubles and
| psychoses present confusion OF
wave forms like mixing all the
earth's storms simultaneously over
one small sea.
Yet even here some of the signals
are beginning to become clear. Just
within the last two weeks, years
Of watching have eliminated in
finding two kinds Of waves to sepa-
rate manic Oppressive insanity into
| two classes.
Some manics have slow waves,
Others have the fast type. The