Integrating the Neurobiology of Schizophrenia

This book examines the role that dopamine plays in schizophrenia, examining its role in not only the symptoms of the disease but also in its treatment. It also reviews all neurotransmitters that have been implicated in schizophrenia, exploring the genetic data, clinical data implicating the transmitter, and the preclinical data exploring how a transmitter may interact with dopamine and contribute to the dopaminergic phenotype observed in the illness. This book will serve as an educational tool for instructors, a guide for clinicians, and be of interest to researchers. It is a good reference for researchers specialized in one particular area and interested in learning about other areas of pathology in schizophrenia and how they may all feed into each other. The book concludes with an overall integrative model assembling as many of these elements as possible.

Neurobiology of Dopamine in Schizophrenia.
Dopamine and Schizophrenia: Basic Aspects.
Glutamate and Schizophrenia: Phencyclidine, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate (NMDA) Receptors, and Dopamine/Glutamate Interactions.
Deciphering the Disease Process of Schizophrenia: The Contribution of Cortical GABA Neurons.
Alterations of Serotonin Transmission in Schizophrenia.
Serotonin and Dopamine Interactions in Rodents and Primates: Implications for Antipsychotic Drug Development.
Cholinergic Circuits and Signaling in the pathophysiology of Schizophrenia.
Schizophrenia and the Alpha-7 Nicotinic Receptor.
Histamine and schizophrenia.
Cannabinoids and Psychosis.
Involvement of Neuropeptide Systems in Schizophrenia: Human Studies.
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor in schizophrenia and its relation with dopamine.
Schizophrenia Susceptibility Genes: in search of a molecular logic and novel drug targets for a devastating disorder.