BIRREN 175the control of the individual. A later review article suggested that the
slowing in behavior could be attributed to changes in the basal ganglia.
This included the slowing of initiation and execution of movements
as well as intellective processes.^12
Visiting Scientists
During the 1950s and the early 1960s, there were several visiting research
ers who spent a year in residence at the NIMH in the Section on Aging
doing research. Two of them were professors from British universities,
Patrick M. A. Rabbitt, and Harry Kay. They both returned to Britain and
continued their interest in research on aging, with Patrick Rabbitt spe
cializing in cognitive aging. Asser Stenback, a psychiatrist from Helsinki,
Finland, was interested in mental health and aging in relation to physical
disease. Klaus and Ruth Riegel, both psychologists from Germany, were
also visiting scientists and were active in research on both the speed of
behavior and other aspects of behavioral changes associated with aging.
In addition to his empirical research, Klaus Riegel did an analysis of the
growth of research on aging. His analysis of the literature showed that
during the decade of the 1950s as much literature was published on
the psychology of aging as had been published in the prior one hundred
James Birren and Joseph Brinley, 1958, with the Psychomet
Donated to the Office of NIH History by Dr. James E. Birren