ABSTRACT
One of the prominent hypotheses regarding the pathophysiology of schizophrenia is the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia. This model is based on several findings: (i) drugs that increase dopamine release in the brain, such as amphetamine, can lead to a psychosis in normal individuals; (ii) that positive symptoms of schizophrenic patients can be exacerbated by dopamine-releasing drugs; and (iii) all the clinically effective antipsychotic drugs in use today have the common property of blocking D2 receptors (cf. Grace et al1). However, the concept that schizophrenia is due to a simple hyperdopaminergic state is not supported by a substantial amount of other evidence.
