A three-dimensional model of neural activity and phenomenal-behavioral patterns
Poster No:
613
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Paola Magioncalda1, Matteo Martino1
Institutions:
1Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan
First Author:
Co-Author:
Introduction:
Understanding how phenomenal experience and behavior are related to neural activity represents an arduous challenge. As a potential approach to this issue, the complex subjective experience/behavior may be deconstructed into basic dimensions, such as psychomotricity, affectivity, and thought. This may help cluster and systematize heterogeneous constellations of phenomenal experiences and behaviors, along with related symptoms, into distinct elemental patterns. In turn, these dimensions might more precisely be mapped onto distinct and specific neural circuits and networks. Accordingly, the present work aims to propose a three-dimensional model of neural activity and phenomenal-behavioral patterns applicable to physiological and pathological conditions.
Methods:
We reviewed the findings from a large number of functional neuroimaging studies on healthy subjects and neuropsychiatric disorders (including major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, anxiety disorders, addictive disorders, Parkinson's disease, Tourette syndrome, Alzheimer's disease, and frontotemporal dementia) that report direct or indirect information on the relationship between brain functioning and the specific dimensions/symptomatology (including psychomotor hyperactivity, hyperkinesia, psychomotor retardation, hypokinesia, catatonia, anxiety, dysphoria, euphoria, panic, anhedonia, apathy, depersonalization, mind-wandering, repetitive thinking, hallucinations, delusions, attention deficit, cognitive deficit, and consciousness loss). Integrating this information and extending our previous work, we finally delineated a theoretically- and empirically-grounded model linking brain activity with phenomenal-behavioral patterns.
Results:
In this model, neural activity is organized into distinct units in accordance with connectivity patterns and related input/output processing, manifesting in the different phenomenal-behavioral dimensions. (1) An external unit, which involves the sensorimotor circuit/brain's sensorimotor network and is connected with the external environment, processes external inputs/outputs, manifesting in the psychomotor dimension (processing of exteroception and somatomotor activity). External unit hyperactivity manifests in psychomotor excitation (hyperactivity/hyperkinesia/catatonia), while external unit hypoactivity manifests in psychomotor inhibition (retardation/hypokinesia/catatonia). (2) An internal unit, which involves the interoceptive-autonomic circuit/brain's salience network and is connected with the internal/body environment, processes internal inputs/outputs, manifesting in the affective dimension (processing of interoception and autonomic activity). Internal unit hyperactivity manifests in affective excitation (anxiety/dysphoria-euphoria/panic), while internal unit hypoactivity manifests in affective inhibition (anhedonia/apathy/depersonalization). (3) An associative unit, which involves the brain's associative areas/default-mode network and is connected with the external/internal units (but not with the environment), processes associative inputs/outputs, manifesting in the thought dimension (processing of ideas). Associative unit hyperactivity manifests in thought excitation (mind-wandering/repetitive thinking/psychosis), while associative unit hypoactivity manifests in thought inhibition (inattention/cognitive deficit/consciousness loss). Finally, these neural units interplay and dynamically combine into various neural states, resulting in the complex phenomenal experience and behavior.
·Figure 1
Conclusions:
We propose a theoretical model of the relationship of neural activity with phenomenal experience and behavior along an external neural unit underlying psychomotricity, an internal neural unit underlying affectivity, and an associative neural unit underlying thought, representing the three fundamental and complementary dimensions of interaction between the organism and the environment.
Disorders of the Nervous System:
Psychiatric (eg. Depression, Anxiety, Schizophrenia) 1
Novel Imaging Acquisition Methods:
BOLD fMRI 2
PET
Keywords:
MRI
Psychiatric Disorders
1|2Indicates the priority used for review