Evaluation of dopamine hypothesis

Strength - evidence for dopamine

• Raindrop and Munkvad - show that stereotyped shiz activity can be produced by amphetamines

• supports the idea that dopamine is related to schiz

• Parkinson’s disease - took schiz drugs to raise their dopamine levels developed schiz like symptoms

• Lindostroem et al - used a radioactive tracker in the blood and found that chemicals needed to produce dop are taken up faster in those who suffer from schiz

Limitations - Glutamate

• evidence for central role of glutamate

• Post-mortem and live scanning studies have found raised levels of neurotransmitter glutamate in several brain regions of people with schizophrenia

• In addition, several candidate genes for schizophrenia are believed to be involved in glutamate production or processing

• this means that an equally strong case can be made for a role for other neurotransmitters

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