Clinical Features of Amphetamine Intoxication and Dopamine Hypothesis of Schizophrenia

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Question 1
Clinical features of Amphetamine intoxication
Amphetamine intoxication can present clinically through several ways which may include both
mental and physical symptoms and changes in behaviors (Ciccarone, 2011). This may include;
I. Auditory, visual and tactile hallucinations. This is where an individual perceive sounds,
vision and touch respectively in absence of a stimuli.
II. Paranoia, which may show up through an individual having delusions of persecutions or a
person see himself or herself to be of much important even when not. A person may also
have anxiety (Cunha-Oliveira, Rego, Carvalho, & Oliveira, 2013). Which is having the
fear of the unknown.
III. Increase in heart rate and blood pressure may also be noticed
IV. Loss of weight and reduced appetite. One also develop upset in digestion.
V. Insomnia. Where a person experience difficulty in falling asleep.
VI. Mood swings and aggressive behavior. The mood of a person just changes abruptly.
VII. Loss of interest in activities that one has been doing and isolation.
According to National Institute on Drug Abuse, when methamphetamine, a derivative of
amphetamine is the drug being abused, then one may experience skin sores, dental problems and
severe loss of weight (National Institutes of Health, 2011).
How amphetamines act on CNS

Amphetamines act on the central Nervous system by stimulating it to produce extra brain
activity, enhancing sense of well-being and increasing the alertness (Gardenhire, 2015).
Amphetamines does that by acting particularly on three neurotransmitters; dopamine, serotonin
and noradrenaline (Brensilver, Heinzerling, & Shoptaw, 2013). It increases the levels of this
neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters can be described as chemical substances which allow
information to reach the receptor site by conducting signals between neurons and nerve cells.
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter which is responsible for reward, pleasure, attention and
movement. Amphetamines act on this neurotransmitter more than the rest. Serotonin influences
appetite, anger and mood. It also disturbs body functions such as, sleep pattern, blood pressure
and temperature. Noradrenaline deals with the body’s fight or flight mechanism and therefore
aids in production of adrenaline which gives the body its sudden energy and alertness. When
amphetamines are therefore taken, all the three neurotransmitters are released to the brain. This
creates a euphoric feeling to the person. The person gets an intense feeling of excitement and
alertness.
Question 2
a. Dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia
The dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia is a model which tries to prove that the symptoms
may be as a result of dopamine being excess in the mid-brain and less in the prefrontal cortex.
This hypothesis originated from the discoveries that those drugs which block dopamine, that is
dopamine antagonists, lowers the positive symptoms of schizophrenia (Kendler, & Schaffner,
2011). An example of dopamine antagonist is antipsychotics. Moreover, the drugs which