Discuss the evidence that suggests the dopamine hypothesis as a factor in the cause of schizophrenia

Answer:

The dopamine hypothesis derives from the discovery that all of the first generation of antipsychotic drugs reduced the activity of the neurotransmitter dopamine. It was then hypothesized that too much dopamine or too much dopamine activity was a causal factor in the etiology of this disorder. After the therapeutic effects were observed, studies showed that most antipsychotic drugs block or prevent dopamine from interacting with dopamine receptors. Eventually it was observed that a drug's therapeutic effects were directly and strongly correlated with its ability to block dopamine reception. Imaging studies of schizophrenic patients' brains have found that some patients have elevated levels of dopamine functioning in the striatum. Recent attention is focused on multiple neurotransmitters and receptors.