Phenomenology and neurobiology of self disorder in schizophrenia: Primary factors

Abstract

Schizophrenia is a heterogeneous syndrome, varying between persons and over course of illness. In this and a companion article, we argue that comprehension of this condition or set of conditions may require combining a phenomenological perspective emphasizing disorders of basic-self experience (“ipseity disturbance”) with a multidimensional appreciation of possible neurobiological correlates—both primary and secondary. Previous attempts to link phenomenology and neurobiology generally focus on a single neurocognitive factor. We consider diverse aspects of schizophrenia in light of a diverse, albeit interacting, set of neurocognitive abnormalities, examining both synchronic (structural) interdependence and diachronic (temporal) succession.In this article we focus on the primary or foundational role of early perceptual and motoric disturbances that affect perceptual organization and especially intermodal or multisensory perceptual integration (“perceptual dys-integration”). These disturbances are discussed in terms of their implications for three interconnected aspects of selfhood in schizophrenia, primary forms of: disrupted “hold” or “grip” on the world, hyperreflexivity, diminished self-presence (self-affection).Disturbances of organization or integration imply forms of perceptual incoherence or diminished cognitive coordination. The effect is to disrupt one's ability to apprehend the world in holistic, vital, or contextually grounded fashion, or to fully identify with or experience the unity of one's own body or thinking—thereby generating an early and profound (albeit often subtle) disruption or diminishment of basic or core self and of the sense of existing in a coherent world. We discuss interrelationships or possible complementarities between these three aspects, and consider their relevance for a neurodevelopmental account of schizophrenia.