Manodepressive disorders: a theory based on a neurophysiological model

In a previously presented model, a column in the cerebral cortex has activity at two separate levels. A few columns are under normal conditions at the high level of activity at a time while the rest are kept at the low level. The effects of changes in the number of columns that are at the high level of activity simultaneously have been dealt with in previous papers. It has been concluded that a somewhat increased number results in positive schizophrenic symptoms, and that too few can give negative schizophrenic symptoms. In the present paper, the effects of changes in a second parameter are discussed. This parameter is the length of time during which a cerebral column is at the high level of activity. It is explained how too short duration causes the manic phase in manodepressive disorders, and too long duration the depressive phase.