carlsson et al 2000

• aims 


  study was carried out as a review of dopamine hypothesis of schizo

  the aim is to present the current relationship between schizo and problems relating to schizo

  also to explore the rival theory of glutamate hypothesis
• Method


  had no specific method as carried out empircal research but used the number of studies that use PET scans- 35

  PET scans are brain imagery techniques which inject participants with a radioactive tracer

  the tracer is carried by the blood to the brain where it concentrates around brain structures that were active

  a PET scan detects the radioactivity and converts into digital image of brain

  if neurotransmitters are under active in the brain the tracer will bind together at the receptors and show up on the PET scan as yellow or red
• results

  1. carlsson explains evidence from PET scans that support the dopamine hypothesis- schizo people show more dopamine activity than the healthy control group
  2. glutamate seems to regulate the behaviour of dopamine and describes it as ' accelerator and the brake'
  3. carlsson is researching new drugs which regulate dopamine activity without processing harmful hypodopanergia
• conclusions


  carlsson suspects there are probably different groups of schizo patients whose symptoms have different biological explanations- not always dopamine

  lack of glutamate might cause patients to have an exaggerated response to dopamine in the post synpatic neuron
• evaluation


  generalisability- 25 studies- representative but could be seen as 'time locked' as research has moved on and developed

  reliability- lab experiments and used modern PET scans- standardised procedures

  application- development of new anti psychotic drugs- bettwe understanding of dopamine hypothesis

  validity- over 20 years on the research still agree- low egological validity

  ethics- used animal studies- injected rats wit psychotic symptoms and humans injected with amphetamine to increase symptoms