Quantitative neurochemical changes and the absence of change have been observed in patients in the glycoproteins of one compartment of the nervous system itself, the cerebrospinal fluid, which are temporally related to psychological and behavioral changes or the absence of change respectively occurring during entry into and recovery from psychotic states. The psychotic state is defined in a manner which permits some quantification of the disturbance in terms of groups of psychological functions involved. The hypothesis is considered that the functional changes in recovery from psychosis may be usefully viewed as syntheses, and that the functional synthetic changes which occur in the nervous system are unitary even though they may be investigated and described in both psychological and biochemical terms.Abstract Teaser