typical drugs

• Typical antipsychotic drugs for schizophrenia work by reducing dopamine activity – they are dopamine antagonists – and are thus strongly associated with the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia. They have been used since the 1950’s and are sometimes referred to as first-generation antipsychotics.
• Chlorpromazine was the first antipsychotic drug developed. It is a dopamine antagonist, which means it works by blocking dopamine receptors in the brain. Chlorpromazine also has sedative effects.
• By decreasing dopamine activity, typical antipsychotics help to reduce hyperdopaminergic activity, which contributes to positive symptoms. Chlorpromazine also has a sedative effect, which can help calm patients experiencing acute episodes of psychosis.
• Typical antipsychotics are highly effective at reducing positive symptoms (e.g., hallucinations, delusions), but they are less effective at treating negative symptoms such as avolition (lack of motivation) and flat affect (emotional blunting). Negative symptoms are often linked to low serotonin levels, which typical antipsychotics do not target.
• Traditional typical anti-psychotic drugs block D2 receptors, hence decreasing the amount of dopamine available. When using these over an extended period of time they produce extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS) which have side effects on motor activity (involuntary movements similar to Parkinson's Disease).