Soal dan Pembahasan TBI (Reading Comprehension) Bagian 25

        In 1937, Charles Bradly reported a postive effect of stimulant medication in children with various behavior disorders. Bradly was medical director of the Emma Pendieton Bradly Home, today called Bradly Hospital, in East Providence, Rhode Island, which was founded by his great-uncle George Bradly to treat neurologically impaired children. Apart from children with definite neutological disorders or residual effects of encephalitis, there where children hospitalized with “emotional problem” and major difficulties in learning and behavior. Some of these children would possibly be diagnosed with ADHD today.

        Bradley’s discovery of the improvement by stimulants of the behavior if children was based on a change finding during his neurological examinatioons. Bradly performed pneumoencephalograms in order to examine structural brain abnormalities. This usually caused severe headaches, which were supposed to be the result of a significant loss spinal fluid. Bradly attempted to treat the headaches by stimulating the choroid plexus with benzedrine has a negligible effect on the headaches, but caused a striking improvement in behavior and school performance in some of the children.

        Bradly subsequently started a systematic trial in 30 children of his hospital and observed remarkable alterations in behavior. “the most spectacular change in behavior brought about by the use of benzedrine was the remarkable improved school performance of approximately half the children”. The children “were more interested in their work and performed it more quickly and accurately”. In addition, some decrease in motor activity was usually noted in the children who also “became emotionally subdued without, however, losing interest in their surroundings”.

        Bradley’s was surprised at this effect. “it appears paradoxical that a drug known to be a stimulant should produce subdued behavior in half of the children. It should be borne in mind, homever, that portions of the higher levels of the central nervour system have have inhibition as their function, and that stimulation of these portions might indeed produce the clinical picture of reduced activity through increased voluntary control”. He later identified children who were most likely to benefit from benzedrine treatment as “characterized by short attention span, dyscalculia, mood lability, hyperactivity, impulsiveness, and poor memory”. These features are nowadays associated with ADHD. Bradley’s observations of stimulant effect in hyperactive children were revolutionary and are considered important discoveries in psychiatric treatment.

Adapted from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov