Doc 0000173883

This page features a large, metallic vault door on the left side, with multiple circular mechanisms, gears, and a large handle, suggesting security and restricted access. The right side displays the bold, white text "THE BLACK VAULT" in a stylized font, against a dark, subtly blue-tinted background. Below this title, smaller white text explains that the document originates from The Black Vault, an online database of declassified government documents, specifically mentioning the MKULTRA/Mind Control Collection and citing the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). A prominent yellow hyperlink, "http://mkultra.theblackvault.com", is also present, indicating where the collection can be accessed. There are no photographs, handwritten annotations, official stamps, forms, diagrams, tables, redactions, or visual evidence of experimental procedures. .· I 7 July 1965 ,--,···----···---~----,-i J )1 _/ --·{ Dear Recently I a visit to Graz, Austria and Moscow, supp_?~~ed U.S.S.R., by_ jwho had been invited to_nttend several informal confer.ences on the matter of electro sleep ana electro-anesthesia. Subsequently on his return, he spent the week of June 27th in my office reviewing his material and preparing a report on his visit and ex periences. There was no aspect of his trip or his visits which were involved in any security classification and therefore his final repor·t is an unclassified one. Kno\'ling of your past interest in this area of work, I am enclosing herewith a copy of ' !report wnich you may retain for your own purposes. )) Kind personal regards. Sincerely, ----------------- 1 REPORT ON ELECTRO-SLEEP AND ELECTRO-ANESTHESIA IN EUROPE AND THE SOVIET UNION Historical. I have been actively engaged in the field of electro-anesthesia for approximately three years. interest occurred academically Thi.~ at first, because of my curiosity regarding animal work, at which time I participated in the building of a unit for experimental pur poses. After an initial success, four individuals, including myself, formed a corporation, -------- ·· ---- · ·- \ to pro- duce and market the instrument. It was my responsibility to intro duce the apparatus to medical institutions, and attempt to get re search programs started. In this connection I participated in orig inal research as well as cooperated with practically all individuals in this country working with electro-anesthesia. Our small corporation was bought out by a lar3e organization in July, 1964, and I joined it in the same capacity I had been fulfilling with 1 In February 1965 I severed connections with this company. As part of the introductory process I have presented papers and seminars to various branches of the government, American Veterinary Medical Associations, the Atomic Energy Commision, medical schools, and the Bio-Engineering section of IEEE : · i. I also took in the first bio-engineering symposium held at \ pa~t . I I was one of the individuals responsible for organLZLng the first ! and second sympnsiums for electro~anesthesia held in' and ~in Colorado and Tennessee, respectively. I At the .. · where I presented a paper, £rem .. ·-.. :. I met with _\"a visitor \who issued an invitation for me to come to a meeting to be held in Graz, Austria in May, 1965. Further developments The document is a typed letter dated July 7, 1965, addressed "Dear" with a signature space for the sender. Several portions of the text are redacted or obscured, particularly around the recipient's name, the name of the individual who visited U.S.S.R., and the final sentence of the main body. There are also bracketed symbols and dark lines suggesting redactions or formatting elements. A circular stamp with the number "237" is present in the bottom right corner. The visual content primarily consists of textual information with redactions, offering no direct visual evidence of experimental procedures, equipment, or facilities. electro~anesthesia held in' and ~in Colorado and Tennessee, respectively. I At the .. · where I presented a paper, £rem .. ·-.. :. I met with _\"a visitor \who issued an invitation for me to come to a meeting to be held in Graz, Austria in May, 1965. Further developments led to my visit to the Soviet Union and other European countries during this period • . The purpose of my trip to Europe was to determine different me thods being used to produce electro-sleep and electro-anesthesia and to evaluate the effectiveness of those methods. Of primary concern was securing information regarding methods presently in use in the Soviet Union. Basically, I was to inquire as to the use or possible effect of electronic techniques with hypnosis, sleep, narcosis and electro-shock ---------- 2 therapy. This report will be in two secti.ons, the first concerning electro sleep and the second, electro-anesthesia. PART I ELECTRO-SLEEP I attended a conference organized by Dr. F. Wageneder at the University of Graz, Austria for the purpose of discussing electro sleep. It was assumed that the participation of a group from East Germany might lead to an invitation to visit their facility and gain ) more knowledge of what was going on in the eastern countries. Professor Dr. M. Herbst of the Karl Marx University, Leipzig, East Germany did _attend but was no help. He was not aware of the latest techniques in either the East West and seemed to be pre o~ sent more in the capacity of an observer rather than as a partici pant. Hoping to further my contacts, it was arranged to have Dr. Wageneder call Dr. M. G. Ananev in Moscow and inform him of my visit ;C? Graz and the fact that I. had been on the program . _ - · . - · -~ - ·· .1 Symposium in April. As hoped, Dr. Ananev asked if it would be possible for me to visit with his group; after some trying moments this was arranged and results will be covered herein. Dr. Wageneder has a financial interest in AVL, a company that is producing his "Electrodorm", a sleep machine patterned after the Soviet "Electrosohn", actually incorporating the latest techniques presently in use but not yet adopted in the commercially available Soviet instrumentation. This unit uses a combination AC·DC current. The frequency of the square wave component varies from 30 This page is a typed document with a top margin that appears to be a scanned image with some horizontal lines and shading. The document is divided into paragraphs and features several instances of what appear to be handwritten annotations or marks within the text, often appearing as short, faint lines or dots. There are also some bracketed symbols, like "}" beside a paragraph and a circular symbol next to another, that might be some form of notation. No photographs, stamps, forms, diagrams, tables, or redactions are visible on this page. The overall impression is that of a processed document with some minor internal markings. a company that is producing his "Electrodorm", a sleep machine patterned after the Soviet "Electrosohn", actually incorporating the latest techniques presently in use but not yet adopted in the commercially available Soviet instrumentation. This unit uses a combination AC·DC current. The frequency of the square wave component varies from 30 to 250cps. The width may be varied from .2--to 1.4 millisec. The current is ad justable from 0 to 5 milliamperes. There are now three sleep stations in operation in the Austria~ one already mentioned in Graz, another operated by Till Tesarek, Ph.D, M. D., in Vienna, and a third by Prim. Dr. Stepan in Hartberg. In addition, units have been purchased by Dr.'s Leonhard, Vorau; Konrad, Klagenfurt; and Eichhorn, Graz. According to the distributi»g firm, ~~Ddelga, Vienna, orders have been received from almost every part of Europe. Units delivered outside Austria to date include those to Prof. Bartschi-Rochaix, Bern, Switzerland; Dr. Hochmuth, Berlin, West Germany and Dr. Natalie Krumovska, Sofia, Bulgaria. I received information that sleep clinics had been set up in the following locations, with the Soviet apparatus, or a home-made model: / ...... - • 3 I Czechoslovakia - 10 stations Bulgaria - 5 stations Hungary - 5 stations Israel - 1 station Soviet Union - 300 stations Paris, France - Dr. A. Limoge Paris, France - Dr. A. Djourna Altjessen, Germany - Wolfgang Rentsch Wolfsburg-Wiesengrund, Germany - Dr. Siegfried Koeppen Zagreb, Bogoviceve - Prim. Dr. ArnuLf Rosenzweig All of these centers are under the •lirect supervision of Medical ) Doctors and trained medical technic~ans. The Graz center has been in operation two years utilizing 6 units and is solidly booked until September. Dr. Wageneder has presented very ambitious plans to the Austrian government for a new complex to house a large sleep center and research facility, and he claims they are looking favorably on the proposal. I questioned Dr. Wageneder as to where his patients come from and how they find their way to his clinic (operated in the Medical School Hospital). He replied that most of them are referred by other doctors from throughout Europe. He said others have come after reading stories in the newspapers and magazines. During the time I was pre sent, his patients were from Austria, Denmark, Switzerland, Hungary and Germany. Most were being treated for sleep disorders. Conversations with Dr. S. Roitenburd, generally regarded as the father of electro-sleep and He said others have come after reading stories in the newspapers and magazines. During the time I was pre sent, his patients were from Austria, Denmark, Switzerland, Hungary and Germany. Most were being treated for sleep disorders. Conversations with Dr. S. Roitenburd, generally regarded as the father of electro-sleep and Dr. W. W. of the Soviet Banschtschi~v UnionSociety of Neuro-pathologists and Psychiatrists brought out the following points. First and foremost, the Soviets regard the term 11electro-sleep" as a misnomer, they do not expect nor particularly de sire their subjects to sleep during treatment. They continually stressed the fact that "electro-sleep" is a form of therapy, and in sisted it h just coincidental that it will help those persons afflicted with problems related to sleep. The main reason being that those pro blems are generally related to the nervous system, and it is felt that the total nervous system is being treated with the instrument. In ad dition, it~was made quite clear to me that a series of at least 20 con secutive treatments was necessary to achieve a true therapeutic effect. Dr. Till Tesarek, Vienna, advanced the theory that the current acts as a stabilizer to the para-sympathetic vase-depressive function and it is not strong enough to go through the brain, but rather enters through the blood system, veins, arteries and then spreads throughout the system. Tesarek feels that insomnia is just a symptom of another disease, and that when you treat that disease with electro-sleep, insomnia dis- ___ l J- appears also. He felt it had particular advantage in g1v1ng relief to older patients afflicted with symptoms of arteriosclerosis, th~ headaches and vertigo. He claims, 1s do the Soviets, that he can bring about a lowering of blood pre.;sure in individuals, h~rpertensive where the cause is not organic, and control .it with the use of electro sleep, without any form of drug treatment. Dr. Roitenburd claims cures of Buerger's disease, with no recurrences for over eight years. The example was also cited of a patient with an ulcer confirmed by X-Ray who started taking electro-sleep treatments for a nervous dis order, during the course of treatment he happened to have another X-Ray taken, at which time it was noticed the ulcer had disappeared. This was reported by all workers using the treatment for a considerable ) length of time, i. e. Roitenburd, Wageneder and Tesarek. Banschtschi~v, I questioned the The page displays typed text from a report, with a header containing "2" and a horizontal line. There are also faint horizontal lines and a small graphic element on the left side of the page, resembling a stylized "J" or a wavy line. No photographs, stamps, forms, diagrams, or tables are present. There are no visible handwritten annotations or signatures. The content discusses electro-sleep and electro-anesthesia therapies, mentioning locations, individuals, and equipment involved in the research. dis order, during the course of treatment he happened to have another X-Ray taken, at which time it was noticed the ulcer had disappeared. This was reported by all workers using the treatment for a considerable ) length of time, i. e. Roitenburd, Wageneder and Tesarek. Banschtschi~v, I questioned the Soviets about the use of conjunctive drug ther apy, and all replied that unless the individual was in a hospital for treatment, there was no use made of conjunctive therapy. Drugs were never used in any of the clinics in combination with electro-sleep. All the Soviets were firmly conVinced that NASA was using electro sleep on the astronauts in the Gemini series, that there was a good s. deal of work going on in the U. and that we just were not talking about it. I explained to them that we knew it was being used in the Cosmos series, which they denied vehemently. After one day of talking• I think I finally convinced them that I was telling the truth about . our lack of use of elec.tro-sleep • At this point they b . e··.c<~-ame rather incredulous, expressing the feeling that it was inconceivable to them that in a country as medi cally advanced as the U. S., we would not be~aking full use of a tool as successful as electro-slee~. They stated that even though we might feel the claims were exag gerated, or even if we felt they were outright lies, the fact re mained that the treatment was harmless, and we should at least have investigated the procedure to find out for ourselves. When questioned as to use in their space program, Roitenburd said, "It hasn't been used yet because the capsule can't contain any sophisticated equipment, only that necessary for maintenance in s.pace." He did say that all the cosmonauts were undergoing electro sleep routinely in their training program, and that its future use is anticipated. Presumably it would be useful in four ways: (1) to es tablish new sleep-work cycles; (2) use in space during extended tra vel where shee-;- fatigue is a problem; (3) if something should go wrong in space such as emotional disturbances, nervous disorders, etc., when recovery has been made the period of treatment could begin im mediately with quick results without any period; (4) its waitin~ rout~ ine use putting the men and women in a relaxed, receptive The document is a typed page, likely from a report or memo, with a textured paper appearance and some faint background patterns. There are no photographs, stamps, forms, diagrams, or tables. There are some handwritten annotations that appear to be editorial marks or possibly corrections, particularly in the top right corner and some smudges throughout. The text itself is the primary visual element, detailing information about electro-sleep centers and conversations with researchers. There is no visual evidence of experimental procedures, equipment, or facilities. problem; (3) if something should go wrong in space such as emotional disturbances, nervous disorders, etc., when recovery has been made the period of treatment could begin im mediately with quick results without any period; (4) its waitin~ rout~ ine use putting the men and women in a relaxed, receptive frame of mind. _/ ·~-.- --~··-·-·-. ---·- 5 Further investigation is being conducted in connection with over coming jet-flight fatigue involved i.n time zone changes, presumably it is also being experimented with in extended transportation in the Red Army. They claim very promising results. Roitenburd says whenever he goes into different time zones he gives himself a one hour treatment on arrival and is quite refreshed and ready for work at its termination. It seems that it is being used as an aid to promote the adaptive process generally. Roitenburd and both stated that the published re Banschtschi~v ports of one hour of electro-sleep being as good as eight hours of nor ) mal sleep are true, however both malntained that they never intended to suggest that this could be used in a situation whereby a man would work eight hours, sleep one, and then work eight again. They felt that it should be obvious to medical personnel that this would not be possible; they were only relaxing the nervous system, nothing else, and felt unhappy that the U.S. popular magazines reported it in that manner. They were also most insistent that ~ course of at least 20 treatments was necessary to get the true therapeutic value; the treatments are given 5 days a week for four weeks. I inquired about a possible placebo effect and all Soviet investigators agreed that it was possible to obtain this in so far as the sleep was concerned, but all maintained that in the control groups of many studies made by them, no therapeutic value was seen. Dr. Chief Surgeon, First Medical Institute of Moscow, did ~uzin, not feel electro-sleep was really a subject for much more research, as they have been using it routinely· for a number of years. He is using it in post operative care and in conjunction with local anesthe tics to achieve optimum effect and relaxation of the patient. In questioning about other facets of its use, i. e. hypnotic effect, etc. it was brought out that patients have received relief from epileptic attacks (not specified whether grand The document is a typewritten page from a declassified CIA report, likely concerning the MKUltra program. There are no photographs, forms, diagrams, or structured data present. However, there is a handwritten annotation appearing as a single slash mark near the top right of the page, and another handwritten annotation on the left margin that looks like a curved opening bracket. There is also a small, faint, circular stamp mark on the lower left near the bottom of the text. The text itself appears to be black ink on standard white paper, with some areas of slight discoloration or fading. No official stamps like "CLASSIFIED" or "SECRET" are visible. The provided image is a scanned page of typewritten text, likely a report or memorandum. There are no photographs, stamps, handwritten annotations, diagrams, or forms visible. The primary visual elements are the text and what appears to be a faint watermark or pre-printed institutional header in the upper left corner, which is mostly obscured by the larger text. There are no visual indicators related to experimental procedures, equipment, or facilities. it in post operative care and in conjunction with local anesthe tics to achieve optimum effect and relaxation of the patient. In questioning about other facets of its use, i. e. hypnotic effect, etc. it was brought out that patients have received relief from epileptic attacks (not specified whether grand mal or petit ~· mal) over an extended period, after electro-sleep treatment (without further drug therapy) and the fact that there had been no recurrences of Buerger~s disease in five patients over an eight year period was cited. I gathered the impression that electro-sleep is now a a~so routine measure'given in treatment of Buerger's syndrome. I ques tioned Dr. about possible hypnotic suggestion made Banschschi~v during the period the patients were actually asleep ( one-third do sleep during treatment), and this was the only time during the visit that I felt he attempted to evade the question. He talked a lot about many things, but would not give a straight answer to that. Dr. Roitenburd maintained that electro-shock therapy is practi cally non-existent in the Soviet Union at this time, that those cases I ---------------------·------- lJ previously treated in that manner were now undergoing extended periods of electro-sleep, and in some cases were receiving drug therapy also. Interestingly enough, Dr. Tesarek felt that electro-sleep was of no value in treating individuals with deep neuroses or hypochondriac symp toms, such as would ordinarily need 3 or 4 years of psychiatric care. The Soviets did not share this view at all. Much to my surprise the Soviets, including representatives of Med-export, told me that the rights to the Electrosohn in the United States had been sold to General Electric Company. One of the newer developments technically in this field is the ) use of white noise as a substitute for the square wave in the appa ratus. Both the Soviets and Wageneder mentioned this, and Wageneder is supposed to send over a pro~otYPe of a new machine making use of this principle. He is also sending one of his standard commercially available instruments. The procedure after an individual has been accepted for treat ment is as follows: (1) the patient is given a thorough physical ex~ amination by the physician; (2) upon admission to the clinic a chart is prepared (Inclosure A) indicating the complete data to be taken during the electro-sleep treatment; (3) in a quiet, darkened room the patient changes treat ment is as follows: (1) the patient is given a thorough physical ex~ amination by the physician; (2) upon admission to the clinic a chart is prepared (Inclosure A) indicating the complete data to be taken during the electro-sleep treatment; (3) in a quiet, darkened room the patient changes into hospital pajamas, lies down and the electrodes are adjusted; (4) an M. D. slowly turns up the current until the patient reports a tingling sensation. No further increase of current is in dicated and the patient is left alone for the remainder of the treat ment. Normally the current used is 1.2 milliamps.; the frequency of the square wave component is lOOcps although recent workers report good results with frequencies up to 250rcps. All workers claim that there·is no evidence of cataract development and the Soviets in over lOO,~UDcases have not reported any statistical increase over that normally expected in the population. Although the initial treatment is given by an M. D. usually trained rourse gives subsequent treat ~ ments. The timer is set, ordinarily for 90 minutes, when the instru ment automatically shuts off. If the patient is sleeping at the time, he is left alone until he awakens. Routine checks are made, of course, to determine his condition and the operativeness of the instrument. The electrodorm has built-in devices to shut off auto- ..m atically if the ·electric current reaches 5 milliamps. SUMMARY (1) No ill effects have been reported by any of the workers. (2) The patient is not expected to sleep during the treatment, although one third do so after the first few treatments. .... . ! 7 (3) A course of at least 20 is absolutely necessary before treatm~nts it may be determined the treatinent is not effective; sometimes the will show up shortly after the 20th session. effec~ (4) There may be. an intensification of the symptoms being treated during the 5-12th sessions, after which they will disappear gradually. (5) Each treatment lasts from 60-120 minutes depending on the con ditions involved. (6) Placebo effect may be seen in so far as one third sleeping are concerned, but in no case will there be any therapeutic effect seen. -, ~ (7) All diseases of the nervous syJtem are considered for treatment by electro-sleep. (8) A physician is in charge of all sleep stations, assisted by med ically trained personnel. (9) Treatments are evaluated The document is a typed page with some faint vertical lines and a dark, textured area in the upper left corner, suggesting it's a scanned or copied page. There is a small, handwritten curved line near the beginning of the second paragraph and an arrow-like symbol to the left of the paragraph starting with "The timer is set". The text discusses electro-sleep treatments, equipment like the Electrosohn, and the procedure involved. There are no photographs, stamps, forms, diagrams, tables, or redactions visible on this page. third sleeping are concerned, but in no case will there be any therapeutic effect seen. -, ~ (7) All diseases of the nervous syJtem are considered for treatment by electro-sleep. (8) A physician is in charge of all sleep stations, assisted by med ically trained personnel. (9) Treatments are evaluated as one third successful, one third par -·- tially, with complete success coming late in treatment, one third un successful. ... (10) Routine use of electro-sleep therapy was accepted without question by every individual with whom I came in contact in the Soviet Union. The importance of electro-sleep in the Soviet Union may be seen from the fact that there are over.300 stations now operating, each with an H. D. in charge. Officials seem so convinced of the effective ness of treatment that Banschschikov and Roitenburd report difficulty in obtaining more funds to do further research; the feeling being that its value has already been proven. -- While the claims for electro-sleep seem grossly exaggerated,and even suggest "quackery'', the fact remains that data is on a~ailable over 100,000 patients treated over the past 12 years. In addition, personnel with whom I had contact in Austria, Switzerland, France and Italy fully corroborate these findings. ) l This leads us to the inevitable conclusion that in the United States we have had a gross misconception of the use of electro-sleep techniques, and this with a lack of accurate information as to the methodology involved has in effect halted research in this country. Perhaps the biggest misconception of all is the commonly held belief that electro-sleep means just sleep, which as it turns out is not the case at all. Dr. Banschschikov is holding a meeting in Moscow during August on the subject of sleep. The meeting, closed except to invited officials and doctors in area, will consider the latest techniques in the~1~scow electro-sleep, the results of the past 10 years and the direction re search should take in the future. Presumably this will be part of a campaign for more funding from the government. I have been told that I s T if I am able to be in Moscow at that time it will be arranged for me to attend the sy~mposium, with an interpreter to assist me in under standing the discussions. PART II Electro-anesthesia Upon arriving in the Soviet Union I immediately attempted to contact Dr. Ananev, but since The document page appears to be a typed report with numbered points and paragraphs. There are no photographs, stamps, forms, diagrams, tables, or redactions visible. The document is entirely text-based, detailing aspects of "electro-sleep" therapy. There are also a few small dots and a faint line, possibly from the printing process or a coffee stain, but no significant handwritten annotations. if I am able to be in Moscow at that time it will be arranged for me to attend the sy~mposium, with an interpreter to assist me in under standing the discussions. PART II Electro-anesthesia Upon arriving in the Soviet Union I immediately attempted to contact Dr. Ananev, but since it was a Sunday, I was unsuccessful. The follO\.ring morning we did make cor;tact and I was taken by car to the Research Institute for Experimental Surgical Apparatus and ) Instruments. After much preliminary formality I was introduced to Dr. Valentina L. Deryabena of the Institute, \vhom I found was in charge of the work being conducted in electronic anesthesia. Fol lowing introductions we, accompanied by two interpreters, went to the office of the director where we spent considerable time dis cussing the field in general. After about two hours the second interpreter left us and the talks continued. I found that quite by coincidence I had appeared on the scene at the same time the bi-annual meeting ·of the Institute was being held. As far as was known in the office of the Air Attache in London I \vas the first American allowed to att.end. At the con- elusion of the papers in which I was interested, I was asked to present a short talk on the state of the art in the United States, which I did. Now as to the actual information of all the exchanged7fi~st Soviets were thoroughly familiar with all the work published in the U. S. They quoted liberally from reprints of Knutson, Hardy, Smith et al. They seemed quite surprised that I was not familiar with their recent work in the ··field. This led to a general dis cussion of the difficulty in exchanging information quickly, with out having to wait for the Journals, which sometimes have delays up to 18 months in the printing of submitted articles in the Soviet Union as well as here. We all agreed it would be advantageous to set up a system whereby one central location, whether here or there, would receive at least abstracts of current work and then publish a monthly or quarterly bulletin, so we would all be up to date, and ··eliminate the present information gap that exists. I feel it would be possible to do this and would very much lil'e to see the possi bility explored further. In the opening period The document is a typed report on plain paper with no visible photographs, stamps, or official markings. There are no handwritten annotations or signatures. The page contains only paragraphs of text. There are no diagrams, forms, tables, or visual evidence of experimental procedures. The document appears to be a straightforward account of a professional visit. work and then publish a monthly or quarterly bulletin, so we would all be up to date, and ··eliminate the present information gap that exists. I feel it would be possible to do this and would very much lil'e to see the possi bility explored further. In the opening period of our talks I mentioned our recent work, especially the papers presented at the · ·\Symposium, and in turnattempted to determine the current state ··c,-r·the art there. We sparred for quite a while, but when the second interpreter left the Dr. Deryabena seemed to loosen up and the information came ~oom