The NMDA antagonist model for schizophrenia: promise and pitfalls.
Pharmacopsychiatry July 1, 1998 W M Abi-Saab, D C D'Souza, B Moghaddam et al.
Drug models help researchers understand schizophrenia's neurobiology but have limitations that affect how results are interpreted. The N-methyl D-aspartate antagonist model, using drugs like phencyclidine and ketamine, has gained attention because these drugs produce symptoms beyond psychosis, including thought disorder, negative symptoms, cognitive deficits, and abnormal electrophysiologic test results similar to those in schizophrenia. Subanesthetic doses of ketamine in healthy individuals induce paranoia, perceptual alterations, and these other schizophrenia-like symptoms. This paper discusses the shortcomings of drug models generally and focuses on the NMDA antagonist model, emphasizing what ketamine's effects reveal about schizophrenia's pathophysiology and potential treatments.