Pharmacopsychiatry 2006; 39: 3
DOI: 10.1055/s-2006-931502
Foreword
© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Foreword

H. Hippius1
  • 1Psychiatric University Hospital Munich, Germany
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
01 March 2006 (online)

Psychiatric diseases can be treated successfully by psychotropic drugs (antipsychotics, antidepressants etc.). With regard to schizophrenia, treatment by D2 receptor blocking agents plays a key role in attenuating psychotic episodes and preventing relapse risks. Recently, new ”atypical” antipsychotics have opened up new therapeutic perspectives towards understanding the neurobiology of schizophrenia. With these new antipsychotics it has been shown that the interaction of several other neurochemical transmission systems (besides the dopamine receptors, serotonine and glutamate receptors, for instance) are important, especially with regard to side-effects. Now, the role of partial dopamine agonists/antagonists, the interplay of pre-, post- and extrasynatpic D2 receptors and also the ratio of D1 to D2 receptors in cortex and/or striatum again suggest to focus on the relevance of dopaminergic transmission for the pathogenesis of schizophrenia symptoms.

The starting point for this development was Arvid Carlsson's early pharmacological discovery of the role of the dopamine system for the mode of action of antipsychotics. Later on, Carlsson extended his research to a theoretical concept for understanding the neural process involved in schizophrenia. Carlsson developed a modular model that describes the circuitry ranging from the brainstem up to the cortex and is published here as a synopsis. He has elaborated the relevance of the balance of activation and inhibition within and between these circuits and has also shown the regulatory role of disinhibitory connectivity in the direct and indirect loops converging on the basal ganglia.

All these findings indicate that the complexity and dynamics of neurochemical systems must be considered in more detail in order to understand the disturbances of molecular signaling between and within neurons in schizophrenia. With this aim in mind, it would seem to be fruitful to introduce the ideas of systems science and computational science, which are concerned with the analysis of complex systems, into the field of theoretical neuropsychiatry. It might be a theoretical challenge to transform the models of Carlsson into mathematical and computational models.

With this objective in mind, a workshop in honor of the 100th anniversary of the District Hospital of Haar (Munich, Germany) was organized together with Arvid Carlson, in order to intensify the dialogue between neurobiology and psychiatry on the one hand and systems science and computational neuroscience on the other hand. The participants in this workshop have now reported on their concepts, ideas and research results, focusing on the models developed by Arvid Carlsson.

I consider that, with this workshop and publication, models and modeling methodologies are demonstrated that could lead to a more coherent picture of the processes taking place in complex molecular and neuronal circuits that are involved in mental diseases like schizophrenia, and their pharmacological treatment.

Prof. em. H. Hippius

Psychiatric University Hospital Munich

Nussbaumstr. 7

D-80336 Munich

Germany

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