Deficits in Prefrontal Cortical and Extrastriatal Dopamine Release in Schizophrenia

Abstract

To our knowledge, these results provide the first in vivo evidence for a deficit in the capacity for dopamine release in the DLPFC in SCZ and suggest a more widespread deficit extending to many cortical and extrastriatal regions including the midbrain. This contrasts with the well-replicated excess in dopamine release in the associative striatum in SCZ and suggests a differential regulation of striatal dopamine release in associative striatum vs extrastriatal regions. Furthermore, dopamine release in the DLPFC relates to working memory-related activation of this region, suggesting that blunted release may affect frontal cortical function.