The Dopamine Hypothesis of Schizophrenia – Advances in Neurobiology and Clinical Application

Posted on:January 27, 2018
Last Updated: November 10, 2023
Time to read: 7 minutes

The dopamine hypothesis stems from early research carried out in the 1960’s and 1970’s when studies involved the use of amphetamine (increases dopamine levels) which increased psychotic symptoms while reserpine which depletes dopamine levels reduced psychotic symptoms.

The original dopamine hypothesis was put forward by Van Rossum in 1967 that stated that there was hyperactivity of dopamine transmission, which resulted in symptoms of schizophrenia and drugs that blocked dopamine reduced psychotic symptoms. [1]