title: Attention in hysteria: a study of Janet's hypothesis by means of habituation and arousal measures.
abstract: Toward the end of the 19th century, Janet suggested that the fundamental disorder in hysteria was one of attention. The authors examined this idea in a study of habituation. Patients with a history of prolonged conversion symptons (N = 11) showed a severe impairment in habituation when compared with patients with anxiety neuroses (N = 10). This finding cannot be explained in terms of arousal and suggests that selective inattention is deficient in hysterical individuals.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D001143:Arousal; D001288:Attention; D003291:Conversion Disorder / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic; D006801:Humans; D007046:Hysteria / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male