[Psychophysiological measurements in psychotic patients].

Psychophysiology is the science that studies the physiological measurements that are related to mental functions. In this study several physiological measurements were performed in a group of psychotic patients and their results compared with those of a normal control group. Those variables were pulse and respiratory rate, oral temperature, blood pressure and skin conductance and their spontaneous fluctuations. We observed that when direct measurements were considered, without the use of complex machinery, the psychotic patients in general, and particularly the schizophrenics had their central nervous system less stimulated than their controls. On the contrary with more complex measurements, when the EKG and skin conductance apparatus were used, the patients arousal was greater than those of their controls. The patients, in particular the schizophrenics, also did not habituate their skin conductance. Those results are considered as indicative of a decrease in the orientation reflex of those patients in comparison with their controls.