amastie
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Media release from Swinburne University of Technology, Victoria, Australia
12 November 2001
Latest research findings shed light on multiple personality disorder
Scientists at Swinburne University have conducted a world first study into the psychiatric condition Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), previously known as Multiple Personality Disorder.
Simply put DID patients may have a host personality that splits into personality fragments called alters. The research at Swinburne has shown clearly different brain patterns between the DID host and each personality or alter, a finding which could not be reproduced by professional actors emulating the child alters.
Previous studies have been limited in their ability to win the trust of DID patients and have been based on single case studies and generally reported inconsistent results. Swinburne student Annedore Hopper and her supervisor Dr Joseph Ciorciari broke new ground by conducting a study that involved five patients, five controls (professional actors) and by using electroencephalogram (EEG) coherence analysis.
Previous EEG studies into the disorder observed the results at individual brain locations. This latest study went further and compared the EEG signal parameters between different areas, ie it applied EEG coherence analysis.
Dr Joseph Ciorciari said the role-playing controls (actors) were important in showing that the DID patient was not fabricating.
"DID patients were compared with professional actors who role-played on the basis of age and gender corresponding to each DID host and alter personality. The significant differences in EEG coherence between the host and alter personalities but not between the actors' hosts and alter personalities provides physiological evidence for the authenticity of DID."
The researchers worked with patients and staff at a medical centre, The Jamillon Centre, in Melbourne. Dr John Spensley and psychiatric nurse Gillian Johnson from the Centre said the study is an important step in gaining a better understanding of the condition.
"The results clearly show there is something different about people with DID. DID patients have usually suffered severe trauma during their childhood. Some people have questioned the authenticity of the alter personalities or suggested they are induced by therapists.
"Taken in conjunction with other scientific evidence the study's findings suggest that there is more to DID than these explanations. It is also possible that further down the track that EEG coherence analysis could be used by practitioners as a supportive diagnostic test for the disorder."
The research entitled EEG Coherence and Dissociative Identity Disorder is published in the Journal of Trauma and Dissociation, Volume 3, Issue 1.
12 November 2001
Latest research findings shed light on multiple personality disorder
Scientists at Swinburne University have conducted a world first study into the psychiatric condition Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), previously known as Multiple Personality Disorder.
Simply put DID patients may have a host personality that splits into personality fragments called alters. The research at Swinburne has shown clearly different brain patterns between the DID host and each personality or alter, a finding which could not be reproduced by professional actors emulating the child alters.
Previous studies have been limited in their ability to win the trust of DID patients and have been based on single case studies and generally reported inconsistent results. Swinburne student Annedore Hopper and her supervisor Dr Joseph Ciorciari broke new ground by conducting a study that involved five patients, five controls (professional actors) and by using electroencephalogram (EEG) coherence analysis.
Previous EEG studies into the disorder observed the results at individual brain locations. This latest study went further and compared the EEG signal parameters between different areas, ie it applied EEG coherence analysis.
Dr Joseph Ciorciari said the role-playing controls (actors) were important in showing that the DID patient was not fabricating.
"DID patients were compared with professional actors who role-played on the basis of age and gender corresponding to each DID host and alter personality. The significant differences in EEG coherence between the host and alter personalities but not between the actors' hosts and alter personalities provides physiological evidence for the authenticity of DID."
The researchers worked with patients and staff at a medical centre, The Jamillon Centre, in Melbourne. Dr John Spensley and psychiatric nurse Gillian Johnson from the Centre said the study is an important step in gaining a better understanding of the condition.
"The results clearly show there is something different about people with DID. DID patients have usually suffered severe trauma during their childhood. Some people have questioned the authenticity of the alter personalities or suggested they are induced by therapists.
"Taken in conjunction with other scientific evidence the study's findings suggest that there is more to DID than these explanations. It is also possible that further down the track that EEG coherence analysis could be used by practitioners as a supportive diagnostic test for the disorder."
The research entitled EEG Coherence and Dissociative Identity Disorder is published in the Journal of Trauma and Dissociation, Volume 3, Issue 1.
