ALTHOUGH drugs that block the neurotransmitter dopamine are used to treat
schizophrenia, it was not known exactly how the disorder affects the dopamine
system of sufferers.
Now, using a brain-scanning technique known as single-photon computerised
emission tomography, Anissa Abi-Dargham of Columbia University in New York and
her colleagues have shown that in people with schizophrenia, more of the D2
receptors at synapses are occupied by dopamine.
This was true even in untreated patients, which shows that the change isn鈥檛 a
side effect of drug therapy (Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences, vol 97, p 8104). 鈥淪ettling this one point opens lots of other
questions,鈥� says Abi-Dargham.
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