
Past Issues
Dopamine and Psychiatric Disorders: Evidence from Imaging Studies
Shih-Hsien Lin, Nan-Tsing Chiu, Yen Kuang Yang
Dopamine is the one of the most studied neurotransmitters. Dopamine is
found in a wide range of intelligent animals. Dopamine is associated with human
evolution and adaptive behaviors. Hyper- and hypo-dopaminergic functions are
associated with many mental disorders. In the recent decades, studies using molecular
neuroimage techniques, such as positron emission tomography (PET) and
single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), have seen the in vivo
activity of dopaminergic function, and provided persuasive evidence on the association
between psychiatric disorders and dopamine function. Molecular neuroim-
age technique as a valid research device, is unrevealing the detailed mechanisms
on mental disorders. In the present overview, we focus on illustrating the neuroimage
evidence for the association between dopamine function and some mental disorders,
such as schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, substance
abuse, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Key Word | dopamine, mental disorder, positron emission tomography (PET), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) |
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