Strong evidence in favor of this theory comes from the effects of drugs such as amphetamine and cocaine. Both drugs increase the activity of the dopamine synapse. These drugs are known to be psychoactive.
|
This clipart is from Yahoo! Reference. It shows the left cerebral hemisphere as seen from the side. The brain contains relatively high concentrations of dopamine, a diphenol. Dopamine is found largely in the basal ganglia and the frontal lobes.
|
Shown here is Alois Alzheimer and his family. Alzheimer studied the brain.
|
Shown here is Dr. Abram Hoffer, who favors the use of nutritional supplements to treat disease, including mental diseases.
|
Shown here is rutin, a polyphenol sometimes called "vitamin P". It is a nutritional supplement.
|
|
 |
This is another clipart taken from the same Rutgers site, which contains a great deal of valuable information about drugs. Shown here are the dopamine pathways in the brain, which are thought to be abnormal in schizophrenia. They are also abnormal, but in a different way, in Parkinson's disease.
|
This clipart is from Dr. Weil's website. Dr. Andrew Weil favors alternative medicine, including nutritional supplements. Polyphenols are available in these supplements in addition to being found in plant foods.
|
This clipart is a model of dopamine as visualized by the University of Texas website. The oxygen atoms are shown in red. Hydrogen atoms are shown in light blue. The sole nitrogen atom is shown in dark blue on the end of the radical.
|
Shown here is the late Dr. Seymour Kety, who was a professor at Harvard Medical School. Kety was a neuroscientist. He was born in 1915 and died in 2000. He wrote numerous papers on schizophrenia. Kety was skeptical of polyphenol theories, but his skepticism may have been wrong. Kety felt that polyphenol theories were artifacts caused by the patients drinking too much coffee. Whereas it is true that the patients drank coffee, dopamine is a very important diphenol. There is massive evidence that an error in dopamine metabolism causes schizophrenia.
|
Shown here is the chemical leading to dopamine and also the pathways of degredation of dopamine. Dopamine is a diphenol (containing two hydroxl groups on the benzene ring).
|
|
