Psychological stress increases dopamine release in the striatum and is thought toplay a role in susceptibility to psychotic illness. In schizophrenia, a prototypicalpsychotic illness, there is evidence of abnormal dopamine response to pharmacologicalchallenge or psychological stressors. Stress, like dopamine agonist drugs, can triggerrelapse in schizophrenic patients. It has been proposed that exaggerated responses tostress are key in the etiology of psychosis in vulnerable individuals. However, it is notknown whether differences in brain dopaminergic responsiveness precede psychosis ordevelop subsequent to illness onset. / Le stress psychologique augmente le niveau de dopamine dans le striatum, phenomene qui pourrait contribuer a la vulnerabilite aux maladies psychotiques. Dans la schizophrenie, une maladie psychotique prototypique, les etudes ont montre qu'il y a une liberation anormale de la dopamine en reponse aux drogues ou au stress psychologique. Le stress, comme les agonistes dopaminergiques, peut precipiter une rechute chez des patients schizophrenes. On avance Phypothese que les reponses excessives au stress sont primordiales dans l'etiologie de la psychose chez les individus vulnerables. Cependant, on ne sait pas si les anomalies de la reponse dopaminergique du cerveau precedent la psychose, ou se developpent apres le debut de la maladie.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.99935 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Soliman, Alexandra |
| Contributors | Dagher, Alain (Supervisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | French |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Psychology) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002714041, Theses scanned by McGill Library. |
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