[Duration of spiral after-effects in psychosomatic patients (a psychophysiologic study and analysis of data using...

In a psychophysiological study the spiral after-effect, as measured by means of the Archimedes spiral, was investigated in 182 patients with psychosomatic disorders including duodenal ulcers, ulcerative colitis, anorexia nervosa, asthma and heart neurosis and compared with the results obtained in a control group of healthy volunteers (n = 30). Using multivariate data analysis it was possible to divide the total group of psychosomatic patients into various different subgroups which parallelled the subdivision from the clinical point of view. Moreover, the objectivation of the influence of psychotherapy lasting for 6 weeks on the duration of the after-effect was shown by this technique. These results suggest that the determination of the duration of the spiral after-effect may be of value in clinical psychodiagnostics.