Do antipsychotic drugs improve working memory impairment caused by increased dopamine release during relapse phases of schizophrenia?

Abstract

This review summarizes the process by which working memory improves during the relapse phase of high dose antipsychotic therapy for schizophrenia, and presents a hypothesis as to why dopamine-related symptoms appear so strongly during the relapse phase with high dose antipsychotic therapy. Cognitive function related to dopamine in patients with schizophrenia varies depending on the levels of dopamine release and the dose of antipsychotics. Dopamine release is increased during the relapse phase in patients with schizophrenia. When high dose antipsychotic therapy is administered, working memory performance is low during the remission phase and increases during the relapse phase. Because the symptoms that are dependent on dopamine function are expected to show similar changes, we investigated the possibility that dopamine-related symptoms are not observed during the remission phase but may manifest during the relapse phase.