Dopamine Hypothesis

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Intro: Schizophrenia is a psychiatric disorder comprised of diverse clinical features, affecting over 21 million people (about 1 % of the world population) (WHO | Schizophrenia). While there are many individuals suffering from this debilitating disorder, the underlying biological mechanisms have yet to be fully elucidated. One popular hypothesis known as the “dopamine hypothesis”, states that an excess of the neurotransmitter dopamine disrupts normal cell communication within the mesolimbic pathway, resulting in the positive symptoms seen in schizophrenia (Madras, 2013). Considering this hypothesis does not fully explain all the symptoms experienced in schizophrenia, there are likely other processes involved. There is a significant portion …show more content…
This prenatal methylazoxymethanol acetate (MAM) rodent model disrupts development and has been implicated in some histological, neurophysiological, and behavioral deficits analogous to those observed in schizophrenia patients (Chen, Perez, & Lodge, 2014). The animals used in this experiement are second filial generation MAM (F2 MAM) rats. F2 MAM rats(experimental group) were treated during adolescence with either WIN55,212-2 or veichle. Control for MAM rats were injected with saline and either WIN55,212-2 or vehicle.
Western Blot Four 12 well gels were loaded with vHipp samples from each group at 20µL with a full range rainbow ladder loaded at 10µL. Membranes were probed for CNRIP (1:5k) and CBR1(1:5k) as well as with GAPDH (1:1k) which was used as a control. Analysis of western results was obtained using imageJ and statistics were conducted using Excel and Prism Graphpad.
Results: Analysis of western blots showed a significant difference between groups F(3,28)=3.505, p=0.0282. A Newman-Keuls post-hoc test was then conducted and showed a significant difference between the F2 saline/vehicle injected rats (m= 1.226 +/- 0.1037) and the F2 MAM WIN injected rats (m=0.8415 +/- 0.

The effects of Dopaminr in relation to schizophrenia Essay

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withdraws from social life and emotional flatness, where the schizophrenic will not react emotionally to anything. 2a. The dopamine hypothesis states that schizophrenia is caused by excess dopamine activity. This theory states schizophrenics have a higher density of dopamine receptors in their brain and these receptors are more sensitive. This can explain positive symptoms as the dopamine is linked to brain activity and an excess can cause excess brain activity which creates these numerous false perceptions…

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