Some Current Biochemical Theories Concerning Schizophrenia

Any rational approach to understanding the etiology of schizophrenia must take the form of an integrated overview in the fields of biology, genetics, biochemistry and psychiatry. The human being lives in a social field where the major sensory inputs impinge on the auditory, ocular and olfactory systems. Their transduction into electrical and biochemical events may well serve as the substrate for awareness, and one can assume that the presence of a DNA mediated defect within the general body economy, particularly the brain with its neurons related “in series”, (Teller & Denber, 1968), can result in distortions of the individual’s perception of self, his position in time and space and his personal relationships. Internally generated thoughts and memories may precipitate psychologic phenomena, but their relationship to this problem is completely unknown.