Since the mid of the 1960ies, striking similarities between the psychosis seen in
subjects taking high doses of amphetamines and the symptoms of patients with paranoid
schizophrenia have been noted and placed in the context of increased catecholaminergic
neurotransmission as a fundamental cause underlying major symptoms of the disease.
Subsequent studies emphasized the contribution of central dopaminergic mechanisms
for at least several psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia. The most compelling pharmacological
data to support the developing ”dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia” originated from
the clear relationship between antipsychotic drug efficacy and affinity for D2 - like dopamine receptors strongly indicating D2-antagonism as major if not exclusive mechanism of antipsychotic drug action. Accordingly,
in this review we focus on the neuropharmacology of the dopaminergic system in our
brain with special emphasis on the dopaminergic synapse.
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Prof. Dr. W. E. Müller
Department of Pharmacology
Biocenter
Goethe University
Marie-Curie-Str. 9
D-60439 Frankfurt
Germany
Phone: +49 69 79829373
Fax: +49 69 79829374
Email: PharmacolNat@em.uni-frankfurt.de
