CHEMISTRY OF THE BRAIN: MOLECULES, MOOD, AND MENTAL ILLNESS - Chemistry: Notable Research and Discoveries - page 89

An understanding of the mechanism by which antidepressants work
is important in developing other, even more effective drugs. Consider-
ing the prevalence of depression, the National Institute of Mental Health
(NIMH), a U.S. government research agency, has made this research a pri-
ority. Faster-acting antidepressants would be especially welcome, avoiding
the agonizing delay in recovery. As described in the sidebar on page 90,
NIMH funds much of the research on the brain in the United States.
Depending on the outcome of this research, future antidepressants
may or may not target serotonin or other monoamines. What is im-
mediately clear is that while the monoamine hypothesis has prompted
a lot of useful research, depression is not as simple as this hypothesis
would indicate.
Another prevalent mental disorder, schizophrenia, has also had its
share of various hypotheses and medications. Some of the most inter-
esting research avenues involve the neurotransmitter dopamine.
nEuroTrAnSMITTErSAnd
SCHIzoPHrEnIA
Schizophrenia is a serious illness affecting about 1.3 percent of Ameri-
cans, according to the U.S. surgeon general, and similar estimates
hold for other countries. Patients suffering from schizophrenia have
disorganized or irrational thoughts, often including delusions and hal-
lucinations. The patients are also usually socially withdrawn. The Swiss
psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler (1857-1939) coined the term schizophrenia
in 1908 from Greek words meaning split mind, referring to the patient's
break or split with reality.
Because of the brain's complexity, physicians and researchers have
not made as much progress as they would like in efforts to understand dis-
orders such as depression and schizophrenia. Scientists have been study-
ing schizophrenia and related illnesses since before Bleuler's time, but as
yet no one knows what causes schizophrenia. The symptoms of the dis-
ease usually make their initial appearance early in the patient's life. Since
schizophrenia runs in families, there is a genetic component to the disease.
It is possible that problems arise in the early stages of development, possi-
bly due to faulty genes or perhaps in part due to exposure to environmen-
tal toxins, which fester until the disease arises in young adulthood.