Catastrophe Theory: a Model Interaction between Neurochemical and Environmental Influences in the Control of Schizophrenia

MacCulloch, Malcolm J.; Waddington, John L.

doi:10.1159/000117668

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 15 publications

(17 reference statements)

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“…A fully developed biological hypothesis of schizophrenia must deal mechanistically with the complex clinical manifestations of the disorder, including the premorbid unfolding of maladaptive behavioral patterns (Kety 1972; Bowers 1980). In addition, environmental factors probably affect the schizophrenic process by acting on an, as yet, unidentified biological substrate (Denber 1970; Extein and Bowers 1979; MacCulloch and Waddington 1979). Currently, there is no comprehensive biological scheme that assimilates the genetic, environmental, and clinical features of schizophrenia.…”

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confidence: 99%

Neural Plasticity in Schizophrenia

Haracz

1985

Schizophrenia Bulletin

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No current biological hypothesis can assimilate the genetic, environmental, and clinical features of schizophrenia. If, as some authors contend, environmental factors have important effects on the course of schizophrenia, then a fruitful research concern may be the adaptation of neuronal circuitry to environmental changes. The plasticity of neuronal connections has been studied by subjecting animals to neurosurgical lesions, brain electro-stimulation, and a variety of rearing environments. The present article approaches the schizophrenia research literature from a theoretical perspective which takes into account the plasticity of neuronal connections. In a speculative manner, it demonstrates how neural plasticity concepts can be invoked to explain the following seemingly disparate features of schizophrenia: the pharmacological support for the dopamine hypothesis, the delayed onset and offset of neuroleptic antipsychotic action, genetic and environmental influences in schizophrenia, the regional alterations in brain structure and function seen in chronic schizophrenic patients, and the various types of behavioral symptoms exhibited by schizophrenic patients. In view of the explanatory potential of neural plasticity concepts, a research program that focuses on these concepts seems warranted.

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confidence: 99%

Neural Plasticity in Schizophrenia

Haracz

1985

Schizophrenia Bulletin

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“…The second level is the practical application of catastrophe theory, which brings observed phenomena, such as jumps and lags, into a mathematical model to simulate data. It has been primarily applied to biological [33], social [34] and environmental sciences [35].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing Risks from Groundwater Exploitation and Utilization: Case Study of the Shanghai Megacity, China

Zhang

et al. 2019

Water

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With rapid economic development, demand for water resources is continuously increasing, which has resulted in common overexploitation of groundwater, particularly in megacities. This overexploitation of groundwater over many years has brought a series of adverse problems, including groundwater level decline, land subsidence and hydrogeological issues. To quantitatively describe these risks, we propose a risk evaluation model for groundwater exploitation and utilization. By deducing and expanding on the cusp catastrophe type, this study breaks through the limitations on the catastrophe assessment method, e.g., the number of indicators, and establishes an improved catastrophe assessment model for groundwater exploitation and utilization risk. In addition, the index system of the risk evaluation is constructed including three criterion layers: groundwater system condition (B1), groundwater exploitation and utilization (B2) and groundwater environmental problems (B3) and is tested for the conditions in Shanghai City, eastern China. The evaluation results show that the comprehensive risk values for groundwater exploitation and utilization in all districts (counties) of Shanghai are between 0.68 and 0.85, which categorizes the city as in the moderate risk zone; therefore, the improved catastrophe model is suitable for assessing groundwater exploitation risk in Shanghai City and should be applicable more broadly for the effective protection and sustainable supply of groundwater.

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“…As similarly postulated by the Catastrophe Theory of Rene Thorn (McCulloch & Waddington, 1979;Thorn, 1975), Prigogine's theory conceptualises the fact that under the influence of positive feed-back effects, non-linear escalating processes can occur with sudden jumps into new 'regimes' which are far from the state of equilibrium in evolving complex systems. These new regimes are called 'dissipative structures' because they dissipate energy in a new and more complex way: examples are the 'chemical clocks' of the inorganic level, or the patterns of levo-or dextrogyre convection cells (Benard-instability) appearing at a certain moment in a heated layer of liquid.…”

Section: Four Fundamental Biological-psychosocial Mediatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Dynamics of Complex Biological-Psychosocial Systems

Ciompi

1989

Br J Psychiatry

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The scope of this introductory contribution is to present some general facts and ideas which could enhance our understanding of this enigmatic illness. By ‘mediating processes’ (or ‘mediators’) I mean mechanisms providing bridges between different aspects of knowledge of the schizophrenia-puzzle which, so far, have not been linked together in a satisfactory way: one of the central problems is the identification of mediators between psychosocial factors on the one hand, and biological factors on the other. If we do not succeed in building up conceptually valid bridges between these two aspects, which are testable for hypothesis-orientated research, a disastrous splitting of our understanding and treatment of schizophrenia into either biological or psychosocial reductionism is likely.

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Catastrophe Theory: a Model Interaction between Neurochemical and Environmental Influences in the Control of Schizophrenia

Cited by 6 publications

References 15 publications

Neural Plasticity in Schizophrenia

Neural Plasticity in Schizophrenia

Assessing Risks from Groundwater Exploitation and Utilization: Case Study of the Shanghai Megacity, China

The Dynamics of Complex Biological-Psychosocial Systems

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