Abstract
A new psychobiological model of volitive processes and its implications for the etiopathology of mental disorders is proposed. The model is based on five elementary volitive processes. These are the volition to act; the volition to self-instrumentalize; the volition to program intentions, the volition to generate realities; and the volition to permanent existence. Imbalances in information processing in tripartite synapses and their network may be responsible for dysfunctions of self-instrumentalization. It is suggested that the volition to permanent existence unconsciously works in mental disorders, but the volition to intentional programming of realities and the volition to generate realities by communication with subjects and objects in their environment are impaired. In depression, the volition to act is constrained by hyperintentional programs that are non-feasible in the environment. In mania volitive processes are totally oriented on events in the environment without any goal-directed pro-gramming. Dysfunctions of volitive processes in schizophrenia are fun-damentally caused by severe impairments of self-instrumentalization. As shown in tripartite synapses a gap between sensory information pro-cessing in the neuronal network and the inner glial networks causes the inability of schizophrenics to distinguish between the self and the other. In delusions, the destiny for communication becomes staged as pseu-do-communication. Together, the study outlines a new model of volitive processes and deduces dysfunctions responsible for communication pa-thology and abnormal reality experiences of patients with mental disor-ders.
Highlights
The empirical oriented framework of volition according to W
If we assume that the astroglial networks process subjective information generating intentional programs, they exert a feedforward mechanism to the neuronal networks in the sense of a volitive operation
I suggest that patients with depression are burdened by a hyperintentional psychobiological state, since the intentional programs are non-feasible in the environment [13] [38]
Summary
A psycho-biological model of volitive processes should elucidate how the brain is organized that actions of the self and actions of another can be distinguished [3]. Brain imaging experiments indicate that different neuronal networks operate for the recognition whether the action originates from the self or not [4]. Though cognition and volition are both fundamental capabilities of the mind, and must be investigated in their interactions, I will focus on volitive processes as the primary power to act enabling the reflection of their actions by cognitive operations. Volitive dysfunctions and impairments in depression, mania and schizophrenia are deduced from the model. The significance of volitive dysfunction and impairments for the understanding of communication pathology and abnormal reality experience of patients with mental disorders is discussed
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