Neural synchrony in schizophrenia: From networks to new treatments

Evidence is accumulating that brain regions communicate with each other in the temporal domain, relying on coincidence of neural activity to detect phasic relationships among neurons and neural assemblies. This coordination between neural populations has been described as "self-organizing," an "emergent property" of neural networks arising from the temporal synchrony between synaptic transmission and firing of distinct neuronal populations. Evidence is also accumulating that communication and coordination failures between different brain regions may account for a wide range of problems in schizophrenia, from psychosis to cognitive dysfunction. We review the knowledge about the functional neuroanatomy and neurochemistry of neural oscillations and oscillation abnormalities in schizophrenia. Based on this, we argue that we can begin to use oscillations, across frequencies, to do translational studies to understand the neural basis of schizophrenia.