A chapter from the soon-to-be-released “Targets and Emerging Therapies for Schizophrenia” explores the history of the dopamine hypothesis, finding that “although blocking of D2DR ameliorates psychosis, this does not necessarily mean that the dopamine system is abnormal in schizophrenia.” The authors go on to say; “Vigorous search for abnormalities in the dopamine system in schizophrenia so far has yielded inconclusive results … any simple, exclusive pathology of the dopamine system in schizophrenia was and is doubtful.”
Note from Kermit Cole, “In the News” editor:
The authors go on further, concluding (somewhat ironically, from my perspective) “Despite these doubts, continuing attempts to develop effective drugs for the treatment of different symptoms of schizophrenia by restoring the homeostasis of dopamine is warranted since many of the mental processes impaired in schizophrenia involve brain circuitry that is modulated by dopamine.”
