Dissociation, epileptiform discharges and chaos in the brain: Toward a neuroscientific theory of dissociation

Abstract

Dissociated states represent pathological conditions when psychological trauma may emerge in a variety of forms such as psychic dissociative symptoms or, on the contrary, as paroxysms or other somatoform symptoms. There is evidence that epileptic activity plays an important role in the generation of dissociative states and is able to generate various psychopathological processes as well as a wide spectrum of somatic symptoms or seizures. For the explanation of these connections between dissociative states and epileptic discharges the author propose a neuroscientific model of dissociation based on the theory of competitive neural assemblies which can lead to chaotic self-organization in brain neural networks. This model is suggested as an integrative view interconnecting the various psychopathological and somatoform manifestations of dissociative states and suggests further possibilities for future research regarding common pathogenic mechanisms among epilepsy and mental disorders.