991001 New findings increase the chances of a more effective schizophrenia medicine A research team at Karolinska Institutet have made certain discoveries which fundamentally change our view of the mechanisms by which schizophrenia medicines work. The results were presented today in the scientific journal Science.
Schizophrenia is the brain's most serious illness, and affects about one per cent of the population.
Modern medicines have been developed with fewer side-effects than the older ones. But now, Professor Torgny H.Svensson et al at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at KI have made discoveries which revolutionize our view of how these medicines work. Antipsychotic medicines have so far worked through a blockade of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain. The research team has now produced results which show that greater clinical efficacy can be achieved through reducing the dopamine blockade in the brain stem while increasing levels of dopamine in the cerebral cortex. This affects the levels of dopamine in the brain more selectively, with more dopamine in the cerebral cortex, where it has a beneficial effect, and less blockade in the brain stem, and thereby fewer side-effects.