Dopamine Dysregulation

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Dopamine Dysregulation

Dopamine dysregulation denotes a theory that suggests that alteration in dopamine function results in unusual behavior among people with schizophrenia. Normally, brains of individuals who have schizophrenia and other related ailments produce vast amounts of dopamine. For that reason, the dopamine hypothesis concludes that antipsychotic medications treat the disease by suppressing dopamine receptors (D2). Excessive use of striatal dopamine leads to negative symptoms; for example, frontal dysfunction manifests as cognitive challenges as a result of increased salience levels that strengthen the development of psychotic tendencies.

Prolonged use of antipsychotic medications such as amphetamine increases the levels of dopamine in the brain, resulting in unusual behavior that replicates prevalent indicators of psychosis. Howes, McCutcheon, and Stone (2015) concluded that the use of amphetamine results in significant fixation signs and symptoms among up to 75% of patients suffering from the ailment, unlike when the same controlled dosage is given to healthy volunteers who end up depicting no psychologically disturbing behaviors. Blocking D2 receptors cause 'amphetamine psychosis' which results in experiences that medical practitioners find difficult to distinguish from positive symptoms related to schizophrenia.

Functional neuroimaging depict that prolonged use of antipsychotic medications such as methylphenidate among patients with schizophrenia leads to increased production of dopamine into the striatum as opposed to individuals without any psychotic ailment. According to Fusar-Poli, Smieskova, Kempton, Ho, Andreasen, and Borgwardt (2013), evidence suggests that high amounts of dopamine in the brain leads to an over-stimulation of sensory information which affects behavior, feelings, reality orientation, and concentration levels of a person. As a result, abnormalities in dopamine function instigate the development of unusual psychotic tendencies, therefore, underpinning a dopaminergic dysregulation.

            Pre and post-synaptic dopamine alterations indicate that an enzyme known as tyrosine hydroxylase is significantly higher among patients with schizophrenia as opposed to non-psychotic individuals. Hengartner and Moncrieff (2018) concluded that the synthesis of dopamine results in higher production of the enzyme in the substantia nigra of individuals with fixation problems, leading to too much presence of dopamine. Furthermore, postmortem studies on changes in D2 receptors indicate that patients with schizophrenia depicted elevated levels...