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Schizophrenia is a complex psychological disorder with neurological components. First described in 1887 as dementia praecox by German physician Emil Kraepelin, schizophrenia consists of both positive and negative symptoms. The positive symptoms of schizophrenia are those that involve an exaggeration or distortion of normal thoughts, emotions and behavior, such as delusions and hallucinations. The negative symptoms of the condition are those that involve a reduction or absence of normal thoughts, emotions and behavior, such as flat affect, or a lack of emotional reaction; an inability to connect with others; and a tendency toward social isolation. Given the serious nature of this disease, much research has been conducted over the past century to better understand schizophrenia. One area of intense research involves understanding how chemicals in the brain, such as dopamine and glutamate, impact schizophrenia.
The prefrontal cortex is implicated in schizophrenia because this region is where a great deal of dopamine, glutamate and other neurotransmitter activity takes place. To further examine the role of the prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia, researchers at Albany Medical College in New York conducted a study in 2007 that was published in the journal "Biological Psychiatry." The researchers investigated the behaviors of rats with prefrontal cortex damage and found that damage here led to a disruption in dopamine-glutamate activity. Once this disruption occurred, the rats began exhibiting schizophrenic behavior. From these outcomes, the researchers hypothesized that a disruption of prefrontal cortex dopamine-glutamate interactions might contribute to the manifestation of schizophrenia-like symptoms. Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/460971-schizophrenia-dopamine-andglutamate/#ixzz1RlT77Zu8