Utiliser les psychédéliques pour « guérir » des adolescents homosexuels ? Essai de thérapie de conversion,France, 1960

Between 1960 and 1962, a children's judge placed two French adolescents in a psychiatric hospital in Alsace. Described as “delinquent sexual perverts”, Michel, 15, and Bernard, 18, were in fact two young homosexuals. However, at the time, homosexuality was considered a psychiatric disorder that should be “cured”. With this in mind, psychiatrists set up shock or disgust therapies to push patients to become heterosexual. In this hospital, the chief doctor tested two new substances on them: mescaline and LSD. Injected in very high doses, the idea was to cause a powerful psychological shock in the hope of changing the adolescents’ sexual orientation. This type of placement as well as the treatment inflicted were then common (lobotomies or electroshocks were part of the “therapeutic” possibilities to “cure” homosexuality). Two aspects of these experiments are however particularly original: on the one hand, the use of substances such as mescaline and LSD, on the other hand, the very type of “therapy” implemented. It would thus seem, in the current state of knowledge on the use of LSD and mescaline in psychiatric therapy, that these experiences were isolated facts: the literature remains silent on the subject of the use of mescaline to “cure” homosexuality, and the few known therapies carried out using LSD were offered to adults and above all volunteers. Finally, these therapeutic methods were the opposite: psychotherapies in which particular attention was paid to patients and their well-being in the United States or in England and “psychic shocks” in Alsace. This hospital is the only French example of an attempt to “treat” homosexuality using psychedelics. The use of these substances by the French team therefore began in 1960; it involved administering mescaline or LSD in high doses (an exceptional characteristic in Europe where psychiatrists were in favor of therapy with low doses known as “psycholytic”) and in injections, ranging from 200 to 1200 mg for mescaline and for LSD from 100 to 800 micrograms. By way of comparison, a recreational dose is 300 to 500 mg for mescaline and 100 micrograms for LSD, administered orally. In order to create “psychic shock”, the effects of the substances were immediately stopped by the injection of chlorpromazine, a powerful neuroleptic. The authors noted that for all patients, “two modes of behavior are common: stupor and agitation”. They sometimes tore their sheets or pajamas or grabbed the examiner, asking for support. The sessions were linked: in 118 days, Bernard would undergo 16 of these sessions, one every 7 days on average. Michel, during one of the sessions, felt like he had been killed by his psychiatrists. Neither would subsequently become heterosexual. Elsewhere in the world, other forms of LSD conversion therapy have emerged. However, these were benevolent psychotherapies; the product was not injected but taken orally (therefore with more progressive effects), and the approach was not the same. Thus, acceptance of their homosexuality by patients was considered as desirable an option for therapists as was conversion to heterosexuality. For French practitioners, on the contrary, “healing” was the only objective. This article will highlight a double French specificity in the use of psychedelics: first, the refusal to introduce the new method of administering these substances, called “set and setting”, theorized from the late 1950s in Anglo-Saxon countries, and yet known and discussed by French experimenters. Then, it will show the use of these substances in shock therapy, particularly in the treatment of homosexuality.     

Le vieillissement supposé des images

The collections created by patients that in the past were locked up until death, and the few spontaneous productions by characters who shut themselves away, but whose pieces of work are being discovered by chance still today (Jeannot's floorboard, work by Henri Darger), are distinguishing by their consistency, whilst the evolution of medical care for patients with psychotic disorders allow gifted teenagers eager to make a career in arts and exhibit their paintings, to express themselves in diversified ways e.g. frequency of self-portraits, incompletion, etc. Even though images allegedly convey a sense of maturation, this representation is to be found amid themes dictated by modernity which are substituting subject matters that are no longer topical for painting.     

Les nouvelles dispositions pour la reconnaissance de nullité du mariage catholique selon le Droit Canon et le rôle de l’expertise psychiatrique

Recent events are indicative of the rapid changes concerning marriage as conceived by our contemporaries. A personalist approach at the end of the 20th century contributed to the development of a subjective perception of marital reality. As far as the Catholic Church is concerned, it stablely defines a doctrine of marriage, but whose expression has evolved through a Christian anthropology that takes into account the humanities. The practice of Catholic marriage is translated into law, the same is true for civil marriage but the nature or essence of marriage is deeper and richer than can be said and translated into positive, civil, or canonical law. This right has developed and evolved over the centuries through multiple sources. These texts are of various authorities from the founding source, which is the Revelation of the Old Testament and the New Testament. Multiple sources were codified in 1917 and 1983 by the Latin Church, with codifications for the Eastern Rite Churches. This adaptation and modernization of the law owes much to the spirit of classification and simplification introduced by the Napoleonic code. The 1983 Code of Canon Law reflects the evolution of theological thought, particularly with regard to nature, the role of the Church, which is the subject of ecclesiology. Societal evolution emphasizes the prevalence of the subject's desire for love. One of the causes of recognizing the nullity of the matrimonial commitment is therefore the defect of consent, that is, the lack of capacity to make such a commitment, either or both spouses. Consent defects are defined by the Code of Canon Law. The pontifical motu proprio (act taken by the Roman Pontiff on his own initiative) Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus, published in September 2015, made significant changes to the procedure in the finding of nullity of marriage including the implementation of the procedure known as the Process Brevior (or shorter trial).     

For the Sciences They Are A‐Changin’: A Response to Commentaries on Núñez et al.’s (2019) “What Happened to Cognitive Science?”

A recent issue of Topics in Cognitive Science featured 11 thoughtful commentaries responding to our article “What happened to cognitive science?” (Núñez et al., 2019). Here, we identify several themes that arose in those commentaries and respond to each. Crucial to understanding our original article is the fundamental distinction between multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary endeavors: Cognitive science began (and has stayed) as multidisciplinary but has failed to move on to form a cohesive interdisciplinary field. We clarify and elaborate our original argument and reiterate the importance of a data‐driven evaluation of the current status of the field, which exhibits a marked disciplinary imbalance, a lack of a coherent conceptual core, and a striking absence of a consistent curriculum in the institutions that grant degrees in this domain. Half a century after the creation of cognitive science, it may now be a good time to revisit goals and visions for how to best approach the ever‐fascinating scientific study of the mind(s).     

A comparison of medicinal plant use in Sardinia and Sicily—De Materia Medica revisited?

Aim of the Study

Written records of oral medical traditions have had significant impact on the development of medicine and the pharmacopoeias. Modern ethnobotanical studies in Europe and the Mediterranean region, however, have so far largely overlooked the richness and accuracy of historic sources and ignored their probable influence on the development of today's local traditional medicines. Here, we explore the common fundament of traditional knowledge for the medicinal plant uses in Sardinia and Sicily by comparing the selection of medicinal species and specific uses with those of Dioscorides’ De Materia Medica.

Materials and methods

We use (i) a quantification of citations for medicinal species mentioned in ethnobotanical studies conducted in Sardinia and Sicily (ii) a comparison of the flora and medicinal flora with a χ²-test (iii) a binomial approach recently introduced into ethnobotany (iv) a comparison of the most frequently used species with the indications cited in Dioscorides’ De Materia Medica (v) and a crosscheck of all mentioned species with their appearance in Berendes’ translation of De Materia Medica.

Results

We identified a core group of 170 medicinal species used on either islands, which accumulate 74% of all citations and are best represented in De Materia Medica. The 15 most frequently used species of both islands demonstrate intriguing parallels for indications with Dioscorides’ work.

Conclusion

The ethnopharmacopoeia of Sicily and Sardinia are shallow stereotypes of the different editions of De Materia Medica and talking of oral tradition in this respect is a contradiction. The medicinal species of Sardinia and Sicily are largely widespread and common species, including many weeds, which are not facing threat of extinction. Therefore, using traditional medicinal practices as an argument for conservation biology or vice versa is not scientifically sound.     

The history of thought concerning the hypothalamus and its functions

Many initial studies related to identification of the boundaries and structural components, nuclei, tracts and interconnections of the hypothalamus, this continues. Early interest also focused on hypothalamic control of somatic activities and autonomie nervous system functions. During the present century chiefly, interest has developed in the hypothalamus and control of water balance, thirst, water retention and loss (diabetes insipidus and polydipsia). Its role in control of metabolism, body weight (obesity), and the regulation of body temperature has attracted the attention of physiologists for many years. Others have studied hypothalamic regulation of sex and reproductive phenomena. The hypothalamus is now attracting much attention because of its production of neuroendocrine secretions and role in control of the endocrine system. Physiologists realized very early that the hypothalamus is involved in emotional expression, in reaction to stress and adaptive adjustments. Its involvement in disease states and resistance thereto and in determining the nature of behavior has now been recognized as a matter of great importance. The origins of all these interests are reviewed.     

Ca’ Granda,an avant-garde hospital between the Renaissance and Modern age: a unique scenario in European history

The Ospedale Maggiore, known as Ca’ Granda, was founded in 1456 by will of Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, and was considered for almost five centuries a model for Milanese, Italian and even European healthcare. Attracting patients from all over Europe, the Ca’ Granda distinguished itself for the introduction of new treatments and innovative health reforms. In the burial ground of the hospital still lie the bodies of the deceased patients, who came from the poorest strata of the population. The study of their remains aims to give back a general identity and a story to each of these persons as well as reconstruct a fraction of the sixteenth century population of Milano as concerns lifestyle and disease and examine practises and therapy of this exceptional hospital. It is estimated that about two million commingled bones and articulated skeletons rest in the crypt, together with other types of findings (e.g., ceramic, coins, clothing). These remains are the object of a large project involving various disciplines ranging from humanities to hard sciences. The aim of this paper is to bring this historical gem to the attention of scholars and provide a glimpse of what its contents have already revealed.     

Mechanical ear and “blue book” in 1973

Cochlear implant has progressively become an essential treatment for profound hearing loss. The aim of this historical note is to briefly review the very beginnings of this technique, in 1973, with the production of a painting entitled “Mechanical ear” and the first international congress on cochlear implants. In a way, these two events marked the beginning of an antagonism that played a very important role in the development and especially the acceptance of cochlear implants in the multicultural society of the late twentieth century.