Neural mechanisms and circuit foundations of conscious and unconscious dysfunction in schizophrenia
World Journal of Psychiatry June 26, 2026 Jia-zhao Zhang, Tian-Tian Wang, Jing Zhang et al.
Schizophrenia involves marked abnormalities in consciousness, particularly in the interplay between implicit and explicit cognitive processing. Evidence from visual masking and mismatch negativity paradigms indicates deficits from preattentive stages to conscious access. Metacognitive impairments in error and source monitoring suggest implicit processing fails to achieve stable explicit representation. These abnormalities are linked to predictive coding errors, thalamocortical dysconnectivity, and aberrant neural synchrony. This framework connects micro-level sensory deficits with macro-level psychotic phenomenology and may guide future transdiagnostic neuromodulatory interventions.