The Impact of Reverse Isolation on Early Childhood Development

Abstract
Nonidentical male twins suffering from a combined immune deficiency syndrome, a lymphopenic hypogammaglobulinemia, were raised in separate plastic isolation systems for more than 2.5 years. Long-term isolation led to a learning disorder and impairment of intellectual capacity as demonstrated by the Bühler-Hetzer Development Scale. Symptoms involving motor activity such as rhythmic rocking were isolation-specific and disappeared after release from isolation.