Researchers examining post-mortem brains confirm a long-held hypothesis explaining neurotransmitter’s connection to a debilitating disorder. How does the brain chemical dopamine relate to schizophrenia? It is a question that vexed scientists for more than 70 years, and now researchers at the Lie
Researchers have identified how the brain chemical dopamine relates to schizophrenia.
Through their exploration of the expression of genes in the caudate nucleus – a region of the brain linked to emotional decision-making – the scientists uncovered physical evidence that neuronal cells are unable to precisely control levels of dopamine. They also identified the genetic mechanism that controls dopamine flow.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, schizophrenia is 1 of the top 15 leading causes of disability worldwide. People with the affliction suffer from psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, and disordered thinking, as well as reduced expression of emotions, reduced motivation to accomplish goals, difficulty in social relationships, motor impairment, and cognitive impairment.
These observations have inspired generations of scientists to try to understand whether – and how – an imbalance of dopamine actually relates to schizophrenia. Dopamine transmits information in the brain by interacting with proteins on the surface of brain cells, called dopamine receptors. By studying those receptors, scientists at the Lieber Institute have come up with novel evidence confirming that dopamine is a causative factor for schizophrenia.
The investigators found that decreased expression of this autoreceptor in the brain explains the genetic evidence of risk for illness. This is consistent with the prevailing hypothesis that too much dopamine plays a role in psychosis, and strong evidence that the dopamine-schizophrenia riddle has at last been solved.
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