On the organic nature of some forms of schizoid or autistic psychopathy.

Representative case histories are presented to illustrate the typical clinical features of autistic psychopathy. These patients showed several clinical features compatible with organic encephalopathy. Physical signs suggesting the presence of an underlying cerebral dysgenesis were particularly frequent. These patients superficially resembled schizophrenics but differed in their delayed and peculiar intellectual development, the response of their behavior to external stimuli, and their frequent and severe motoric defects. From these observations and a review of the pertinent literature, we conclude that the patients described in this report have an organic deficiency of brain function, determined congenitally or in the early postnatal period.