Toward a unified theory of positive symptoms

Neurophysiologie clinique = Clinical neurophysiology
Michel MagninDaniel Jeanmonod

Abstract

Defined more than one century ago, the concept of positive symptoms has become obsolete, except in the psychiatric domain. However, its relevance remains intact today when considering such pathophysiologies as neuropathic (phantom) pain, movement disorders, tinnitus, epilepsy, and psychiatric disorders. Beside their very different clinical characteristics, all these symptoms arise from a lesion in the nervous system. Furthermore, they are paradoxical in the sense that they correspond to a spontaneous hyperactivity of the injured functional system, concomitant to the usual deficits resulting from the lesion. Could these similarities reflect the existence of some common pathophysiological process? A peculiar electrophysiological property of thalamic cells is likely to be compatible with this hypothesis. A thalamic cell produces action potentials when depolarised by excitatory inputs. Conversely, its ability to produce action potentials is decreased or even completely suppressed when the same cell is hyperpolarized by inhibitory influences. However, depending on its level of hyperpolarization, this cell can also produce rhythmic paradoxical bursts of activity at low frequency (3-4 Hz). In this context, a lesion involving, for exam...Continue Reading

References

Jan 1, 1985·Archives of General Psychiatry·G E Berrios
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Jun 13, 2002·Epilepsia·Mojgan HodaieAndres M Lozano
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Jun 2, 2005·Trends in Neurosciences·Rodolfo LlinásHein J F van Marle

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Citations

Sep 11, 2013·Nature Reviews. Neurology·Andrea TruiniGiorgio Cruccu
Sep 12, 2013·Pain·Luis Garcia-Larrea, Roland Peyron
Jul 8, 2008·Progress in Neurobiology·Nayef E Saadé, Suhayl J Jabbur

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