The British Journal of Psychiatry 146: 429-435 (1985)
© 1985 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
A mechanism to inhibit input activation and its dysfunction in schizophrenia
JD Johnson
Schizophrenics appear to be unable to regulate adequately the effects of
external stimulation, but the cause of this deficit is unclear. Recent
evidence suggests that input activation can normally be inhibited by an
appropriate leading or conditioning stimulus; such inhibition has been
found to be diminished in schizophrenics. Based on this evidence, a
feed-forward regulating mechanism that serves to stabilise reactivity to
environmental events is described; it is hypothesised that failure of the
mechanism to inhibit adequately surges of activity is an underlying cause
of schizophrenic symptoms. Some ways to test the validity of the mechanism
are proposed, and an outline presented of steps to link the mechanism's
dysfunction to schizophrenia.