Biological explanations for schizophrenia: the dopamine hypothesis

Question 1

Main assumptions

Answer 1

• Neurotransmitters in the brain tend to work differently in the brain of a patient with schizophrenia.
• In particular, dopamine is believed to be widely involved.

Question 2

What is Hyperdopaminergia?

Answer 2

• High levels of dopamine in the subcortex of the brain (i.e. the central areas).
• For example, an excess of dopamine receptors in Broca’s area (responsible for speech production) may be associated with symptoms such as poverty of speech and/or the experience of auditory hallucinations.

Question 3

What is Hypodopaminergia?

Answer 3

• Low levels of dopamine in areas within the cortex of the brain.
• Role of low levels of dopamine in the pre-frontal cortex (responsible for thinking and decision making) in negative symptoms of schizophrenia.