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Developing Neuroimaging Phenotypes of the Default Mode Network in PTSD: Integrating the Resting State, Working Memory, and Structural Connectivity

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¹Centre for Neuropsychiatric Research of Traumatic Stress & Department of Psychiatry, 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic. petrbob@netscape.net

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Summary

Dissociative states, characterized by psychic or somatoform symptoms, may share neurobiological mechanisms with temporal lobe epilepsy. Chaos in brain neural networks offers a testable hypothesis for this link.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Psychiatry
Epileptology

Background:

Dissociated states manifest as psychic symptoms (e.g., hallucinations) or somatoform symptoms (e.g., seizures).
Recent research links dissociative phenomena to neurophysiological principles seen in multi-stable perception, suggesting competing neural interpretations.
Evidence suggests temporal lobe epilepsy can induce dissociative syndromes, implying shared neurobiological underpinnings.

Purpose of the Study:

To explore the neurobiological relationship between dissociative phenomena and epileptic activity.
To review historical and recent findings connecting epilepsy and mental illness, specifically dissociation.
To propose a novel hypothesis for the underlying mechanisms.

Main Methods:

Review of existing literature on dissociation, epilepsy, and their relationship.
Analysis of neurophysiological principles in multi-stable perception and their potential relevance to dissociation.
Examination of historical concepts like antagonism between epilepsy and psychosis and forced normalization.

Main Results:

Dissociative symptoms and epileptic seizures may represent different manifestations of a shared pathological process.
The concept of 'alternative psychosis' suggests subcortical epileptic activity can fuel psychopathological symptoms.
Temporal lobe epileptic activity, even without focal neurological signs, may share mechanisms with dissociative symptoms.

Conclusions:

Dissociation and epilepsy might be linked through common neurobiological mechanisms.
Chaos in brain neural networks is proposed as a testable hypothesis for the relationship between dissociation and epileptic activity.
This framework integrates historical concepts with current neurophysiological understanding.