Psychosis might be a "rejuvenation" of the brain where an adult's mind reverts to a highly plastic, childlike state.
Delusions and hallucinations have long been viewed as signs of a breaking or degenerating brain. This theory suggests that psychotic symptoms actually reflect pathological neoteny, where the brain's organization returns to an immature level. This state is characterized by high levels of imagination and a blurred line between reality and thought, just like in very young children. Instead of losing function, the brain is becoming overly plastic and reorganizing itself in a way that prioritizes internal worlds. Reframing psychosis as a developmental regression could change how we treat mental illness by focusing on stability rather than just fixing damage.
Could Psychotic Symptoms Reflect a 'Rejuvenation' of Brain Structure? Rethinking Delusions and Hallucinations Through the Lens of Childlike Neural Organization
SSRN · 6688022
Prevailing models of psychosis, including schizophrenia and neurodegenerative disorders, emphasize neurodegeneration and neurotransmitter imbalances as primary causes of symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations. However, accumulating evidence suggests an alternative possibility: that, in a subset of cases, psychotic symptoms may arise not from irreversible decline, but from a reversion to immature, developmentally plastic brain states-a concept we frame as 'pathological neoteny.' Notably, m