Emotion, Thinking, and Brain Synchrony in Schizophrenia: An Integrative Model

Review Article

Emotion, Thinking, and Brain Synchrony in Schizophrenia: An Integrative Model

Leanne M Williams¹, Marie T Nagy¹, John Docherty^2,3 and Evian Gordon^1,2

Affiliations: ¹Brain Dynamics Center, Sydney Medical School and Westmead Millennium Institute, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia; ²Brain Resource Ltd and Brain Resource International Database, Sydney, Australia, and San Francisco, New York, USA and ³Weill-Cornell Medical College, USA


ABSTRACT

With the explosion of knowledge in multiple areas of neuroscience, there is an increasing need to find ways to integrate this knowledge for meaningful implementation in clinical practice. We present an integrative neuroscience model for bringing together key findings in schizophrenia. The “INTEGRATE model” identifies four fundamental and highly interconnected domains of processing: emotion, thinking, feeling, and self‐regulation. These processes operate along different time scales from very rapid response measured in milliseconds to longer and more lasting responses measured in seconds and minutes. Further, each of these processes preferentially engages different, although overlapping, subcortical–cortical brain systems. These four processes may be studied from molecular (genetic), whole brain (neuroanatomical, neurofunctional, neurophysiological, and neurochemical), and cognitive behavioral perspectives. In this four‐component integrative model, schizophrenia is considered a disorder of neural “dis‐integration” apparent across the entire system of emotion, thinking, feeling, and self‐regulation. We highlight the potential for measures of neural synchrony to provide a quantitative marker that captures the real time neural “dis‐integration” in schizophrenia, and relationships with clinical outcomes.

Keywords: BRAINnet, schizophrenia, integrative neuroscience, emotion, thinking, cognition, gamma synchrony
Correspondence: Leanne M Williams, The Brain Dynamics Center, Acacia House, Westmead Hospital, Westmead NSW, 2145, Australia. e‐mail: lea.williams@sydney.edu.au; lea.williams@brainnet.net