Fig. 3: Directional coordination organizes a persistence landscape disrupted in schizophrenia.

(a) State persistence landscape of directional coordination. Low-dimensional projection of coordination dynamics reveals a structured landscape with distinct regions corresponding to feedback, feedforward, and integrative modes. Surface height reflects persistence (state stability), with deeper basins indicating more stable and preferentially occupied coordination regimes. Controls are shown as a smooth manifold (plane), with schizophrenia overlaid as a mesh. The landscape exhibits separable basins associated with recurrent modes of large-scale coordination. (b) Group differences in persistence landscape (controls - schizophrenia). Controls show increased persistence in the feedback regime and reduced persistence in the integrative regime, whereas schizophrenia exhibits a shift toward deeper integrative basins (*** p < 0.001 ). These results indicate that directional coordination is organized along a continuous persistence landscape, with schizophrenia characterized by a redistribution of stability across coordination modes.