CENTRAL D-2 RECEPTORS AND NEGATIVE SYMPTOMS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA

Most in vivo studies of striatal D-2 receptor (SD(2)R) density with positron emission tomography in schizophrenia have attempted to relate this variable to the diagnosis of the illness. In the present study, a relationship between SD(2)R and clinical dimensions of this psychosis was searched for in a highly selected group of young negative schizophrenics (8 drug-naive and 2 drug-free). The SD(2)R density index measured in vivo using Br-76-bromolisuride and PET correlated negatively (r=0.80, P<0.01) with a psychomotor dimension of schizophrenia involving blunted affect and alogia. The mean SD(2)R index of the patients did not differ from that of age-matched control subjects. Therefore, this behavioural dimension accounts for the variance of the SD(2)R, suggesting that the striatal dopamine system modulates symptoms such as flattened affect and alogia.