"Cognitive dysmetria" as an integrative theory of schizophrenia: a dysfunction in cortical-subcortical-cerebellar circuitry?

Schizophr Bull. 1998;24(2):203-18. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.schbul.a033321.

Abstract

Earlier efforts to localize the symptoms of schizophrenia in a single brain region have been replaced by models that postulate a disruption in parallel distributed or dynamic circuits. Based on empirical data derived from both magnetic resonance and positron emission tomography, we have developed a model that implicates connectivity among nodes located in prefrontal regions, the thalamic nuclei, and the cerebellum. A disruption in this circuitry produces "cognitive dysmetria," difficulty in prioritizing, processing, coordinating, and responding to information. This "poor mental coordination" is a fundamental cognitive deficit in schizophrenia and can account for its broad diversity of symptoms.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Brain / diagnostic imaging
  • Brain / pathology
  • Brain / physiopathology*
  • Cerebellum / anatomy & histology
  • Cerebellum / diagnostic imaging
  • Cerebellum / physiopathology
  • Frontal Lobe / diagnostic imaging
  • Frontal Lobe / pathology
  • Frontal Lobe / physiopathology
  • Humans
  • Models, Neurological*
  • Nerve Net / anatomy & histology
  • Nerve Net / physiology
  • Neurobehavioral Manifestations / physiology*
  • Radionuclide Imaging
  • Schizophrenia / complications
  • Schizophrenia / diagnostic imaging
  • Schizophrenia / pathology
  • Schizophrenia / physiopathology*
  • Thalamus / diagnostic imaging
  • Thalamus / pathology
  • Thalamus / physiopathology