PSYCHIATRY AND THE NEW DYNAMICS

Self-organizing and self-tuning neural networks are conceptualized as nonlinear dynamical systems. It is shown that biological psychiatry can be encompassed within this nonlinear dynamical framework, where it becomes coherent with trends in cognitive science. A state space representation that is a hyperspace with an energy topology and a fractal dimension is utilized The state space representation provides a unifying framework for the classification of mental disorders. Clinical phenomena in schizophrenia can be explained in terms of nonlinear dynamics. The framework is also productive of psychiatric research. These results motivate the development of a nonlinear dynamical psychiatry.