Hallucinations and antipsychotics: The role of the 5-HT2A receptor

2004 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 795-796
Author(s):  
Andrew James Goudie ◽  
Jonathan Charles Cole
Keyword(s):  
Atypical Antipsychotic ◽  
Mode Of Action ◽  
Antipsychotic Drugs ◽  
Drug Induced ◽  
Atypical Antipsychotic Drugs

Behrendt & Young's (B&Y's) novel “unifying model” of hallucinations, although comprehensive, fails to incorporate research into the possible role of 5-HT2A receptors in the mode of action of novel “atypical” antipsychotic drugs (which treat hallucinations effectively), and into the role of such receptors, which are located in thalamocortical circuits, in mediating drug-induced hallucinations.

Antipsychotic and anticholinergic drugs

2012 ◽  
pp. 1208-1231
Author(s):  
Herbert Y. Meltzer ◽  
William V. Bobo
Keyword(s):  
Atypical Antipsychotic ◽  
Antipsychotic Drugs ◽  
Antipsychotic Agents ◽  
Psychotic Symptoms ◽  
Anticholinergic Drugs ◽  
Typical Antipsychotic ◽  
Drug Induced ◽  
Atypical Antipsychotic Drugs ◽  
Normal Limits ◽  
Psychotic Features

The discovery by Delay and Denicker in 1953 that chlorpromazine was highly effective in alleviating delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized thinking, was the seminal breakthrough in the treatment of schizophrenia, the first agent to produce sufficient relief of core psychotic symptoms to permit life outside of institutions for many patients with schizophrenia, and even a return to a semblance of function within normal limits. Chlorpromazine and the other related typical antipsychotic drugs which were introduced over the next 30 years have proven to be of immense benefit to vast numbers of people who experience psychotic symptoms as a component of a diverse group of neuropsychiatric and medical disorders, as well as drug-induced psychoses. These drugs have been invaluable in providing clues to the aetiology of schizophrenia and other forms of mental illness with psychotic features and as tools in understanding fundamental neural processes, especially those involving dopamine, a key neurotransmitter involved in psychosis. This class of drugs has now been supplanted by the so-called atypical antipsychotic drugs, of which clozapine is the prototype. This chapter will describe the various classes of antipsychotic agents, with emphasis on the atypical antipsychotic drugs, their benefits and adverse effects, recommendations for use in clinical practice, and mechanism of action. The drugs used to treat the extrapyramidal side-effects (EPS) produced mainly by the typical antipsychotic drugs are also considered.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document