The effect of electrically induced convulsions on the behavior of normal and abnormal rhesus monkeys

The social behavior of six juvenile rhesus monkeys was studied in a playroom before, during, and after a series of electrically induced convulsive (EIC) treatments. Three subjects had been reared in a normal environment, and showed the usual levels of social activity for monkeys of this age. Three were socially deprived early in life and showed higher levels of self-directed behaviors and lower levels of social behaviors. At different times all animals received both EIC ad sham EIC, three times per week for 4 weeks, and were observed in a playroom. In general the experimental subjects showed an increase in environmental activity as a consequence of EIC treatments while the control subjects showed decreases in environmental activity and in several social behaviors. The control subjects showed clear increases in self-disturbance behaviors while the experimental animals tended to show a decrease. The patterns of these changes thus showed clearly different characteristics of response to EIC and sham EIC as a function of early rearing condition. The results are discussed in terms of possible models for further study of the effects of EIC on physiological and social variables in a controlled laboratory setting.