A preparation of decapitated Drosophila melanogaster has been used for direct application of drugs to the nerve cord. Serotonin, dopamine, and octopamine stimulate locomotion and grooming, showing distinguishable effects that often are potentiated by addition of the vertebrate monoamine oxidase-inhibitor hydrazaline. Many of the hydrazaline-induced effects are sexually dimorphic, with males sho...

“Atypical” antipsychotics are antagonists at serotonin 5-HT2A and dopamine d2 receptors. However, their effects on negative symptoms and cognitive deficits remain modest and they disrupt metabolic function. Recent drugs, such as aripiprazole, perospirone, bifeprunox, lurasidone and cariprazine act as D2 receptor antagonists (or partial agonists) combined with 5-HT1A receptor activation. The lat...

Postnatal hypofunction of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors leads to several behavioral deficits in adult rats resembling deficits typical of schizophrenia-like deficits of sensorimotor gating. Thus far, it is not known whether the above disruptions are sensitive to neuroleptic drugs. In order to verify the above model in pharmacological terms, we investigated whether deficits in the sensor...

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common and serious illness of our times, associated with monoamine deficiency in the brain. Moreover, increased levels of cortisol, possibly caused by stress, may be related to depression. In the treatment of MDD, the use of older antidepressants such as monoamine oxidase inhibitors and tricyclic antidepressants is decreasing rapidly, mainly due to their adv...

CONTEXT A long-standing version of the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia postulates that hyperactivity of dopaminergic transmission at D(2) receptors in the limbic striatum is associated with the illness and that blockade of mesolimbic D(2) receptors is responsible for the antipsychotic action of D(2) receptor antagonists. OBJECTIVE To localize dopaminergic hyperactivity within the striatu...

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 577 1. Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 578 2. General Therapeutic Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 579 3. Nonpharmaceutical Treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...

Dysbindin-1 (dystrobrevin-binding protein 1, DTNBP1) is one of the promising schizophrenia susceptibility genes. Dysbindin protein is abundantly expressed in synaptic regions of the hippocampus, including the terminal field of the mossy fibers, and this hippocampal expression of dysbindin is strongly reduced in patients with schizophrenia. In the present study, we examined the functional role o...

Here, we describe our collaborative efforts to use N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists as a translational tool to advance our understanding of the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and identify potential new targets for treatment of schizophrenia. We began these efforts in the late 1980s with a keen sense that, in both human and animal studies, we needed to move beyond the dopamine ...

According to the World Health Organization, neuropsychiatric disorders pose an increasingly greater burden on health, society, and economy of countries. Currently, there are strategies prevent some these disorders, treatments or means alleviate their symptoms. In case depression, medication consists antidepressant drugs. Such drugs can also be used in other conditions like anxiety, pain, insomn...

Paliperidone, a novel serotonin and dopamine antagonist, is one of the newest atypical antipsychotics on the market. It is an orally administered drug that is indicated for the treatment of schizophrenia, and is considered to be safe and well tolerated. A 37-year-old female with a long-standing history of schizophrenia had been taking paliperidone 12 mg d-1 for about 1.5 years. She overdosed on...