title: Major psychosis and dopamine: controversial features and some suggestions.
abstract: Three problems with the dopamine hypothesis of major psychosis are pointed out: the long time-course of neuroleptic therapy; the absence of tolerance to the antipsychotic effects of neuroleptic drugs, or of a supersensitivity psychosis on drug withdrawal; and the absence of potent psychotogenic properties in the direct dopamine agonists. A resolution of these paradoxes is suggested relying on a role for dopamine in learning processes at a relatively high (cognitive) functional level. The hypothesis proposed is also used to explain the origin of some of the more distinctive psychotic symptoms.
mesh_terms: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001245:Association Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology; D004298:Dopamine / Q000502:physiology*; D018492:Dopamine Antagonists; D004361:Drug Tolerance; D006212:Hallucinations / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011954:Receptors, Dopamine / Q000187:drug effects; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000503:physiopathology; D012564:Schizophrenic Language; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D018492:Dopamine Antagonists; D011954:Receptors, Dopamine; D004298:Dopamine