Research in biological determinants of schizofrenie psychoses
This article presents a survey of the results so far obtained by CA research in psychoses of the schizofrenie type. The principle fruit of these efforts concerns the mechanism of action of neuroleptics. There are strong indications of a correlation between DA-ergic suppression by neuroleptics and their therapeutic effect. Far more uncertain is whether DA-ergic hyper-activity may play a role in the pathogenesis of schizophrenic psychoses. Results so far have been very variable. It is a logical postulate that this variability is a consequence of the 'noise' caused by the psychopathological heterogeneity covered by the term schizophrenia. 'Dissection' of this term in the psychopathological sense is therefore a prerequisite for future pathogenesis research. Finally, it is observed that NA metabolism has so far been neglected but constitute a legitimate area of research in patients suffering from schizophrenic psychoses.