Alterations in postnatal neurogenesis and dopamine dysregulation in schizophrenia: a hypothesis.

ABSTRACT: An increasing number of studies demonstrate the important role of several susceptibility genes for schizophrenia, such as neuregulin-1 and DISC1, in early postnatal and adult neurogenesis. Its significance for the pathophysiology of the disease, including its relation to neurotransmitter systems implicated in schizophrenia (like the dopamine system), remains, however, unknown. Here, we review molecular and cellular components of the dopamine system associated with postnatal neurogenesis and plasticity, both in rodents and in primates, and discuss their possible implication in schizophrenia. We focus mainly on the islands of Calleja, complex aggregations of granule cells in the ventral striatum, generated early postnatally in the subventricular zone. In contrast to the involution of the pri

SUBMITTER: Inta D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3122276 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature