An electrophysiological view of schizophrenia
Shagass, C.
Biological Psychiatry 11(1): 3-30
1976
ISSN/ISBN: 0006-3223 PMID: 1260074 Document Number: 109666
Recent psychiatric research has been characterized by increasing methodological sophistication in clinical assessment and by exciting advances in understanding of neurochemical, neuroendocrine and neurophysiological systems related to behavior. The developments in brain biology are difficult to apply directly to man, although notable efforts are being made, particularly in the context of pharmacotherapy. Electrophysiology, standing at the interface between behavioral and neuronal events, offers an accessible means of bridging some of the gap between them. The encouraging findings reviewed here represent only a small indication of what may be forthcoming as computer technology is harnessed for the task of analyzing brain electrical signals. Rapid and complete data reduction will permit analysis of recordings of many different kinds of electrical events from numerous sites. More important, it should become possible to extract the mathematical properties of these signals and the relationships between them. These properties may both reflect underlying processes and be of diagnostic utility.