It’s Dopamine and Schizophrenia All Over Again

Abstract

Dopamine (DA) has been hovering over schizophrenia for 70 years, with the earliest clues of a connection between the two coming from clinical reports that psychotic symptoms tended to diminish in chronically institutionalized individuals with schizophrenia who developed Parkinson’s disease. It became the “dopamine hypothesis” based on 3 seminal observations: 1) that dopamimetic drugs like amphetamine can induce paranoid states; 2) that, as shown by Nobel Laureate Arvid Carlsson, antipsychotic drugs influence DA metabolism; and 3) that, as shown by Lasker Awardee Sol Snyder, the clinical potency of antipsychotic drugs is remarkably correlated with their in vitro affinity for DA receptors.