title: NMDA receptor and schizophrenia: a brief history.
abstract: Although glutamate was first hypothesized to be involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia in the 1980s, it was the demonstration that N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists, the dissociative anesthetics, could replicate the full range of psychotic, negative, cognitive, and physiologic features of schizophrenia in normal subjects that placed the "NMDA receptor hypofunction hypothesis" on firm footing. Additional support came from the demonstration that a variety of agents that enhanced NMDA receptor function at the glycine modulatory site significantly reduced negative symptoms and variably improved cognition in patients with schizophrenia receiving antipsychotic drugs. Finally, persistent blockade of NMDA receptors recreates in experimental animals the critical pathologic features of schizophrenia including downregulation of  parvalbumin-positive cortical GABAergic neurons,  pyramidal neuron dendritic dysgenesis, and reduced spine density.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Harvard Medical School, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA. Joseph_coyle@hms.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Joseph T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Coyle
mesh_terms: D000778:Anesthetics, Dissociative / Q000266:history*; D000818:Animals; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000266:history*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000266:history*; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D009488:Neurosciences / Q000266:history*; D010623:Phencyclidine Abuse / Q000266:history*; D011600:Psychopharmacology / Q000266:history*; D011605:Psychoses, Substance-Induced / Q000266:history*; D051381:Rats; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000266:history*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000266:history*; D057170:Translational Research, Biomedical / Q000266:history*
chemical_list: D000778:Anesthetics, Dissociative; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; D018698:Glutamic Acid