taxi-, tax-, taxo-, taxio-, -taxia, -taxis, -taxy, tact-, -tactic, -tactical, -tactics
(Greek: arrangement, order, put in order, orientation; the movements or directed responses of motile organisms to stimuli, as indicated by the combining roots)
2. Mental confusion; the inability to fix one's attention on anything or to make any sustained mental effort.
2. The separatiion of ideas and affect (external stimulus) as seen in schizophrenic disorders; the inappropriateness of affect (reactions to stimuli, including feelings, emotions, and moods).
Negative rheotaxis refers to the movement of the organism in the same direction as that of the liquid (current); positive rheotaxis refers to the movement of the organism in the opposite direction to that of the liquid or current.
This syndrome is qualitatively similar, yet less severe, than that observed in schizophrenia patients.
All individuals with schizotaxia develop a personality structure, called the schizotype. Schizotype is characterized by four traits: cognitive slippage (mild thought disorder), social aversiveness, anhedonia, and ambivalence. It is thought that only a minority of schizotypal individuals decompensate into clinical schizophrenia.
The treatment of schizotaxia may benefit from methods effective in the psychotherapy of other neurodevelopmental conditions (Adult ADHD) which share some clinical features with schizotaxia.
No longer is schizotaxia considered as a theoretical construct describing the unknown neural substrate of schizophrenia, but the accumulation of research has revealed schizotaxia to be a clinically consequential condition.
Looking forward, formulating a diagnostic criteria for schizotaxia, devising diagnostic methods like genetic testing, and implementing environmental and pharmacological interventions are expected to help in the primary prevention of schizophrenia in the future.