Posted by Ritch on December 12, 2002, at 0:16:12
In reply to Re: Extrapyramidal symptoms and dopamine » IsoM, posted by Dinah on December 11, 2002, at 15:48:29
> I did understand that part, but what I don't understand is that the negative symptoms of schizophrenia also involve emotional blunting, and schizophrenia is related to an excess of dopamine (if I remember correctly). So both an excess and a depletion of dopamine cause emotional blunting?
>
> Or am I completely confused.Dinah, you have a great question. Does excess dopamine result in excessive FEAR that *stifles* AFFECT (due to neurotic hypervigilance OR paranoia)? If you have the *opposite* of FEAR (apathy??), does this also create a lack of affect? Perhaps "normal affect" is somewhere between those two poles? I remember a visit with a neurologist and his technician and being told something like "you have warm affect, that is good". So does this "warm affect" fall in the middle of A CONTINUUM between APATHY and FEAR? IOW, too much dopamine makes you too fearful, so all you can do is be hypervigilant, and too little makes you apathetic and unreactive and unconcerned with the world around you?
poster:Ritch
thread:131276
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021210/msgs/131422.html