Summary
The schizophrenic patient is generally regarded to be less responsive than the normal person to many drugs as well as to certain nonpharmacological conditions. Evidence is presented that there is not an attenuated response in the schizophrenic with all centrally acting drugs. The schizophrenic may in fact be more responsive than the normal person to some nonpharmacological conditions. These studies are reviewed and a neuropsychological hypothesis proffered which may account for some of the differences between the normal and the schizophrenic.
The hypothesis states that the schizophrenic patients are in a state of chronic hyperarousal. This results from dysfunction in those areas of the brain concerned with the maintainence of arousal, and attention, i. e. the brain stem reticular activating system.
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Some of the work described was done with the support of USPHS, NIMH Grant MH 03312; some of the costs of preparing this paper for publication were borne by NIMH Grant 10324.
Research career program award K3-GM-1759 from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.
Research career program award K3-MH-14,915 from the National Institute of Mental Health.
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Kornetsky, C., Mirsky, A.F. On certain psychopharmacological and physiological differences between schizophrenic and normal persons. Psychopharmacologia 8, 309–318 (1965). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00453508
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00453508