Features of schizophrenia tend to be mix of positive and negative symptoms. So, from the list of symptoms it appears that David Helfgott has a mild form of schizophrenia with easily treatable, positive symptoms. This paper will focus on the positive symptoms, specifically those having to do with disorganized speech or thought disorder. Although rare, one reason why incoherence occurs is due to use of neologisms and word salads. Neologisms are made up words, usually the result of a combination of two words.
Word salads have more to do with associations between sets or phrases of words.
One reason why both of these aspects of thought disorder are most likely rare is that they are language specific. In a study conducted at the University of Helsinki, researcher's found that the type of strategy used to create neologisms may depend upon the language the child or schizophrenic speaks. For example, it was found that whereas English children tended to use conversion frequently, Finnish children do not use this strategy often. These aspects also raise some very interesting issues if we are to understand the brain and behavior in terms of central pattern generators and corollary discharge. As Melissa Wachterman hypothesized, at first glance, it would seem that because schizophrenic thoughts sound so unrelated and not semantically meanigful, this must be a disorder in which there is no corollary discharge from one thought or phrase of words to the next.