Page "Substantia nigra" Paragraph 19

Increased levels of dopamine have long been implicated in the development of schizophrenia.

However, much debate continues to this day surrounding this theory, commonly known as the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia.

Despite the controversy, dopamine antagonists remain a standard and successful treatment for schizophrenia.

These antagonists include first generation ( typical ) antipsychotics such as butyrophenones, phenothiazines, and thioxanthenes.

These drugs have largely been replaced by second generation ( atypical ) antipsychotics such as clozapine and paliperidone.

It should be noted that these drugs generally do not act on dopamine-producing neurons themselves, but on the receptors on the post-synaptic neuron.