Synchronous Oscillatory Activity and Working Memory in Schizophrenia

Abstract

Impairments in working memory (WM) are a core cognitive deficit in schizophrenia. Recent models of cognitive deficits have emphasized the potential role of neural synchrony as a pathophysiological mechanism underlying impaired WM performance in the disorder, suggesting that impaired maintenance as well as encoding of information may be related to deficits in sustaining precisely timed synchronized activity patterns. In the present paper, we will first summarise the role of synchronous oscillatory activity for working memory in normal brain functioning. Then we will examine the existing data on abnormal neural synchrony in schizophrenia, suggesting that neural synchrony may be critically involved in WM deficits. Neuropharmacological hypotheses will be discussed that have attempted to relate dysfunctional neural synchrony in schizophrenia to abnormalities in dopaminergic and GABAergic neurotransmission. Finally, computational neuropsychiatry may offer a framework for understanding neural synchrony within a complex dynamic nonlinear system and may provide new vistas for modelling WM deficits in schizophrenia.