Initially, there may be no direct connection between schizophrenia and neurotransmitters, which perform several vital functions in one’s body. However, as it tends to happen, as long as everything works properly, there might not be obvious links, but once one element of the system breaks, so will others. This paper will focus on the potential impact of neurotransmitters on schizophrenia and its progression.
As mentioned before, inherently, neurotransmitters perform benevolent functions in one’s body. They include dopamine, serotonin, glycine, and others and bear responsibilities for the work of the nervous system, movement, and behavior (Szymańska et al., 2015). Therefore, if neurotransmitters are damaged, the systems for which they are responsible may also experience dysfunctions. The behavior system may be of special interest, as it was established in the previous essays that schizophrenia manifests through new behaviors and changes in normal behavior. Thus, neurotransmitters may potentially play a role in the development of schizophrenia, although their exact effect should be highlighted.
It is important to pinpoint how disruptions in the work of neurotransmitters may impact schizophrenia. For instance, inflammation of cytokines may negatively impact neurotransmitters, which, in turn, leads to such changes in one’s behavior as anxiety and alarm, or, in the worst case, depression (Miller et al., 2013). Provided that those phenomena are closely intertwined with the negative symptoms of schizophrenia, it can be suggested that neurotransmitters may have a similar effect on the development of the disorder. According to Nickl-Jockschat and Abel (2016), the dopamine receptor Drd2, which is a major neurotransmitter, serves as a target for dopamine agonists and “is associated with schizophrenia” (p. 87). However, the issues seem to arise when neurotransmitters are disturbed by an enhanced release of sensitized cytokines, as it occurs for other behavioral changes (Müller et al., 2016). Dopamine receptor blockers were previously stated to help treat the positive symptoms of schizophrenia, which highlights that neurotransmitters are responsible for some aspects of the disorder.
Thus, neurotransmitters do appear to have a visible impact on the development of schizophrenia, although it manifests when they are inflamed. Dopamine seems to be the most relevant group of neurotransmitters for schizophrenia, as the available treatment for the positive symptoms focuses on blocking the negative effects of dopamine. In the end, there might be a strong connection between the psychotic features and the schizophrenia symptoms, as they both could be linked to neurotransmitters.
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