  We discuss the possibility of multiple underlying etiologies of the condition
currently labeled as schizophrenia. We support this hypothesis with a
theoretical model of the prefrontal-limbic system. We show how the dynamical
behavior of this model depends on an entire set of physiological parameters,
representing synaptic strengths, vulnerability to stress-induced cortisol,
dopamine regulation and rates of autoantibody production. Malfunction of
different such parameters produces similar outward dysregulation of the system,
which may readily lead to diagnosis difficulties in a clinician's office. We
further place this paradigm within the contexts of pathophysiology and of
antipsychotic pharmacology. We finally propose brain profiling as the future
quantitative diagnostic toolbox that agrees with a multiple etiologies
hypothesis of schizophrenia.
