The Link Between Brain and Symptoms in the Perspective of Spatiotemporal Psychopathology

How can we characterize psychopathological symptoms and connect them to the brain? Current psychopathological symptoms only focus on either the symptoms themselves or predominantly on the brain. This leaves open their intimate connection. A novel approach, spatiotemporal psychopathology, proposes that the brain inner spatiotemporal organization of its neural activity provides the spatiotemporal organization of the psychopathological symptoms. Specifically, the brains' neuronal topography and dynamic is manifest in a more or less analogous spatiotemporal organization on the mental level, i. e., mental topography and dynamic. This is strongly supported by various examples including major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and autism. We therefore conclude that spatiotemporal psychopathology provides a promising approach to intimately connect brain and symptoms.