Schizophrenia: a question of perception? The brain fills in the information transmitted by the sensory environment which is not there or which is missing. For example, the blind spot in our eyes does not have sensory light receptors, so images focused on that spot are not transmitted to the brain. In fact, there should be a hole in our visual perception from the images projected onto our blind spot. This doesn't happen when our brain fills spaces with continuous patterns that match the image in our vision. Furthermore, what we see and what is interpreted from what is seen spans a wide spectrum from one individual to another. This indicates that there is no true format to generalize the perceptions of different individuals. Each input from the sensory environment is formatted and put into context by our brain. Our brain organizes each situation in a format that fits our schemas. So what happens when a person's thought process is fragmented and their brain is unable to organize these fragments into an understandable pattern? Imagine if, sometimes, your experiences become a slideshow, fragments of experiences that don't fit together. This is how many people suffering from schizophrenia describe their experiences (1). Have you ever had an experience or vision that just doesn't make sense? Perhaps you may not understand the cause and result of a certain experience or situation, but each memory is placed in context. Our brain makes sure of it. So when seemingly unrelated fragments of information are sent to the brain, the brain attempts to combine these fragments in the most logical way possible. Is it possible that the reason schizophrenics have an altered sense of reality is because their brain's logic is awry? Schizophrenia is one of the most serious psychopathologies today. Its causes are still vague and the symptoms vary over a wide spectrum. However, two generalized groups of symptoms have been identified in schizophrenics: positive symptoms and negative symptoms. Negative symptoms include lack of activity, anhedonia and loss of interest. Positive symptoms include disorganized speech, hallucinations, and delusional experiences (1). People with schizophrenia usually experience a disturbance in their perception. Their environment is unreal and their external sensory environment seems different from what they knew before. In fact, their perceptions are derailed; misinterpretation of situations and the chronology of events. They are unable to distinguish between reality and imagination.