Investigating the Role of Dopamine and Serotonin in Causing Hallucinations in Patients with Schizophrenia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58445/rars.114Keywords:
hallucinations, schizophrenia, dopamine, serotoninAbstract
Can you imagine hearing voices in your head that become a hindrance to your day-to-day life?
For patients with schizophrenia, this can be a common experience. Schizophrenia is a
psychiatric illness affecting about 1% of the population with a variety of symptoms that patients
can experience. One of these symptoms is hallucinations which is one of the most distressing,
least understood, and most complex experiences. Hallucinations are defined as a sensation that
occurs without an external cause and occurs in the majority of patients with schizophrenia. One
of the main neurotransmitters believed to be involved in schizophrenia is dopamine, but more
recent research has implicated other neurotransmitters as well. It is important to therefore
understand the role of these various neurotransmitters in schizophrenia and hallucinations
specifically. In this paper, we will focus on the technical, neurobiological mechanisms of
hallucinations. First, we will review papers on the role of dopamine in hallucinations, then
review papers on the role of serotonin, a different neurotransmitter. Specifically, we will
research the role of these neurotransmitters in auditory, visual, and somatosensory
hallucinations. We will be including scientific literature found through Pubmed and various
scientific journals in the fields of neuroscience and psychiatry. Understanding the role of these
two neurotransmitters in different types of hallucinations has important implications for
finding new treatments for schizophrenia and improving our knowledge about this debilitating
symptom of hallucinations. There is currently no cure for schizophrenia and a poor understanding
of what causes hallucinations, leaving many patients to deal with symptoms alone.
References
Abi-Dargham, A., Rodenhiser, J., Printz, D., Zea-Ponce, Y., Gil, R., Kegeles, L. S., ... & Laruelle,
M. (2000). Increased baseline occupancy of D2 receptors by dopamine in schizophrenia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 97(14), 8104-8109.
Breier, A. (1995). Serotonin, schizophrenia and antipsychotic drug action. Schizophrenia research, 14(3), 187-202.
Cornblatt, B. A., Lencz, T., Smith, C. W., Olsen, R., Auther, A. M., Nakayama, E., Lesser, M. L.,
Tai, J. Y., Shah, M. R., Foley, C. A., Kane, J. M., & Correll, C. U. (2007). Can antidepressants be used to treat the schizophrenia prodrome? Results of a prospective, naturalistic treatment study of adolescents. The Journal of clinical psychiatry, 68(4), 546–557. https://doi.org/10.4088/jcp.v68n0410
Cumming, P., Abi-Dargham, A., & Gründer, G. (2021). Molecular imaging of schizophrenia: Neurochemical findings in a heterogeneous and evolving disorder. Behavioral brain research, 398, 113004.
De Gregorio, D., Comai, S., Posa, L., & Gobbi, G. (2016). d-Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) as a model of psychosis: mechanism of action and pharmacology. International journal of molecular sciences, 17(11), 1953.
De Gregorio, D., Posa, L., Ochoa-Sanchez, R., McLaughlin, R., Maione, S., Comai, S., & Gobbi,
G. (2016). The hallucinogen d-lysergic diethylamide (LSD) decreases dopamine firing activity through 5-HT1A, D2 and TAAR1 receptors. Pharmacological Research, 113, 81-91.
Ebdrup, B. H., Rasmussen, H., Arnt, J., & Glenthøj, B. (2011). Serotonin 2A receptor antagonists for treatment of schizophrenia. Expert opinion on investigational drugs, 20(9), 1211-1223.
Geyer, M. A. (2015). Lysergic acid diethylamide and psilocybin revisited. Biological psychiatry, 78(8), 516-518.
Howes, O. D., Kambeitz, J., Kim, E., Stahl, D., Slifstein, M., Abi-Dargham, A., & Kapur, S. (2012). The nature of dopamine dysfunction in schizophrenia and what this means for treatment: meta-analysis of imaging studies. Archives of general psychiatry, 69(8), 776-786.
Howes, O. D., Shotbolt, P., Bloomfield, M., Daalman, K., Demjaha, A., Diederen, K. M., ... & Sommer, I. E. (2013). Dopaminergic function in the psychosis spectrum: an [18F]-DOPA imaging study in healthy individuals with auditory hallucinations. Schizophrenia bulletin, 39(4), 807-814.
Hrovatin, K., Kunej, T., & Dolžan, V. (2020). Genetic variability of serotonin pathway associated with schizophrenia onset, progression, and treatment. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics, 183(2), 113-127.
Jauhar, S., Veronese, M., Nour, M. M., Rogdaki, M., Hathway, P., Turkheimer, F. E., ... & Howes,
O. D. (2019). Determinants of treatment response in first-episode psychosis: an 18F-DOPA PET study. Molecular psychiatry, 24(10), 1502-1512.
Joyce, J. N., Shane, A., Lexow, N., Winokur, A., Casanova, M. F., & Kleinman, J. E. (1993).
Serotonin uptake sites and serotonin receptors are altered in the limbic system of schizophrenics. Neuropsychopharmacology, 8(4), 315-336
Kraehenmann, R., Pokorny, D., Vollenweider, L., Preller, K. H., Pokorny, T., Seifritz, E., & Vollenweider, F. X. (2017). Dreamlike effects of LSD on waking imagery in humans depend on serotonin 2A receptor activation. Psychopharmacology, 234(13), 2031-2046
Laruelle, M., Abi-Dargham, A., Van Dyck, C. H., Gil, R., D'Souza, C. D., Erdos, J., ... & Innis, R. (1996). Single photon emission computerized tomography imaging of
amphetamine-induced dopamine release in drug-free schizophrenic subjects. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 93(17), 9235-9240.
Laruelle, M., Abi-Dargham, A., van Dyck, C., Gil, R., D’Souza, D. C., Krystal, J., ... & Innis, R. (2000). Dopamine and serotonin transporters in patients with schizophrenia: an imaging study with [123I] β-CIT. Biological psychiatry, 47(5), 371-379.
McKetin, R., McLaren, J., Lubman, D. I., & Hides, L. (2006). The prevalence of psychotic symptoms among methamphetamine users. Addiction, 101(10), 1473-1478.
McKetin, R., Lubman, D. I., Baker, A. L., Dawe, S., & Ali, R. L. (2013). Dose-related psychotic symptoms in chronic methamphetamine users: evidence from a prospective longitudinal study. JAMA psychiatry, 70(3), 319-324.
Muguruza, C., Moreno, J. L., Umali, A., Callado, L. F., Meana, J. J., & González-Maeso, J. (2013). Dysregulated 5-HT2A receptor binding in postmortem frontal cortex of schizophrenic subjects. European neuropsychopharmacology, 23(8), 852-864.
Pogarell, O., Koch, W., Karch, S., Dehning, S., Müller, N., Tatsch, K., ... & Möller, H. J. (2012).
Dopaminergic neurotransmission in patients with schizophrenia in relation to positive and negative symptoms. Pharmacopsychiatry, 45(S 01), S36-S41.
Richtand, N. M., & McNamara, R. K. (2008). Serotonin and dopamine interactions in psychosis prevention. Progress in brain research, 172, 141-153.
Rolland, B., Jardri, R., Amad, A., Thomas, P., Cottencin, O., & Bordet, R. (2014). Pharmacology of hallucinations: several mechanisms for one single symptom?. BioMed Research International, 2014.
Sommer, I. E., Slotema, C. W., Daskalakis, Z. J., Derks, E. M., Blom, J. D., & van der Gaag, M. (2012). The treatment of hallucinations in schizophrenia spectrum disorders.
Schizophrenia bulletin, 38(4), 704-714.
Stahl, S. M. (2018). Beyond the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia to three neural networks of psychosis: dopamine, serotonin, and glutamate. CNS spectrums, 23(3), 187-191.
Vollenweider, F. X., Vollenweider-Scherpenhuyzen, M. F., Bäbler, A., Vogel, H., & Hell, D. (1998). Psilocybin induces schizophrenia-like psychosis in humans via a serotonin-2 agonist action. Neuroreport, 9(17), 3897-3902
Downloads
Posted
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Rida Batool
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.