The finding adds to mounting evidence of dopamine’s link to psychiatric and neurological disorders. It may also allow physicians to pinpoint a subset of these children for treatment before symptoms start.
“The hope is that we will one day be able to identify the highest-risk groups and intervene early to prevent a lifetime of problems and suffering,” said Dr Allan Reiss, Robbins Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford. “As we gain a much better understanding of these disorders, we can design treatments that are much more specific and effective.”
Dopamine levels have been implicated in many neurological conditions, including Parkinson’s disease and psychosis. Data from this and other studies suggest what the Stanford researchers call “a kind of Goldilocks effect” for this important chemical messenger: too little or too much can dramatically interfere with normal cognition, behavior and motor skills. Nudging these levels back into the “just-right” range may help treat or cure some conditions.
Schizophrenia is a brain disease that affects about 1% of people in the US and can manifest itself through agitation, catatonia and psychosis. Although the disorder sometimes runs in families, it can also occur spontaneously. Scientists have suspected for many years that dopamine was involved, due in part to the success of older psychiatric drugs that function by interacting with dopamine receptors in the brain. But the root cause of schizophrenia has remained elusive.