Other faces in the mirror: a perspective on schizophrenia

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Schizophrenia is characterized by a potential disconnect between action generation and self-attribution.
• Existing models often focus on self-monitoring, but agency attribution may involve distinct mechanisms.

Purpose of the Study:

• To differentiate self-monitoring from agency attribution in schizophrenia.
• To propose a neurocognitive model for experiences of alien hands and auditory hallucinations.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual analysis integrating findings from motor control, sensory processing, and cognitive neuroscience.
• Distinction between forward models, mirror systems, and potential dissociations in action processing pathways.

Main Results:

• Alien hand experiences may arise from action pathways without disinhibition records, leading to external dismissal.
• Auditory hallucinations could stem from subvocal verbal processes lacking a creation record, prompting confabulation for agency.

Conclusions:

• Self-monitoring and agency attribution are dissociable processes crucial for understanding schizophrenia symptoms.
• A unified model is proposed where failures in recording action generation contribute to delusions of external control.