Hodological resonance, hodological variance, psychosis, and schizophrenia: a hypothetical model

Schizophrenia is a disorder with a large number of clinical, neurobiological, and cognitive manifestations, none of which is invariably present. However it appears to be a single nosological entity. This article considers the likely characteristics of a pathology capable of such diverse consequences. It is argued that both deficit and psychotic symptoms can be manifestations of a single pathology. A general model of psychosis is proposed in which the informational sensitivity or responsivity of a network ("hodological resonance") becomes so high that it activates spontaneously, to produce a hallucination, if it is in sensory cortex, or another psychotic symptom if it is elsewhere. It is argued that this can come about because of high levels of modulation such as those assumed present in affective psychosis, or because of high levels of baseline resonance, such as those expected in deafferentation syndromes associated with hallucinations, for example, Charles Bonnet. It is further proposed that schizophrenia results from a process (probably neurodevelopmental) causing widespread increases of variance in baseline resonance; consequently some networks possess high baseline resonance and become susceptible to spontaneous activation. Deficit symptoms might result from the presence of networks with increased activation thresholds. This hodological variance model is explored in terms of schizo-affective disorder, transient psychotic symptoms, diathesis-stress models, mechanisms of antipsychotic pharmacotherapy and persistence of genes predisposing to schizophrenia. Predictions and implications of the model are discussed. In particular it suggests a need for more research into psychotic states and for more single case-based studies in schizophrenia.