Typical antipsychotics affect the central nervous system differently than atypical antipsychotics. The central nervous system (CNS) is made up of the brain and spinal cord, and controls our thoughts emotions and actions. Neurotransmitters control these actions and travel between different areas in the brain through nerve cells called neurons, and within these nerve cells, there are several different neurotransmitters that use different receptors. Antipsychotic drugs work by blocking the D2 dopamine receptor. Typical antipsychotic medications, however, block the D2 receptor, which decreases the positive symptoms of schizophrenia, but also block certain D2 receptors that are located outside of the mesolimbic pathway, a dopaminergic pathway in the brain that begins in the ventral tegmental area of the midbrain and connects to the nucleus accumbens. …show more content…
The dopamine hypothesis refers to an excess amount of activity in dopamine synapse in the brain to be the cause of the positive symptoms of schizophrenia. This theory explains why typical antipsychotics only treat the positive symptoms of schizophrenia because the D2 receptors are blocked, leading to less activity in the dopamine synapses. Atypical antipsychotics, also block D2 receptors but also blocks as specific subtype of a serotonin receptor called the 5HT2A receptor. Studies show that the combined blockage at the D2 and 5HT2A receptors treats both the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Since both the D2 and 5HT2A receptors are blocked, atypical antipsychotics treat both the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Clozapine is an example of an atypical antipsychotic, which is a sedative that is used to treat schizophrenia. Evidence suggests that atypical antipsychotics decrease dopamine activity in the mesolimbic system, and increase dopamine in the dorsolateral prefrontal