The endocannabinoid system as a target for modelling psychosis.
Psychopharmacology November 1, 2009 Dagmar Koethe, Carolin Hoyer, F Markus Leweke
Model psychosis refers to experimentally induced symptoms resembling schizophrenia, such as withdrawal from reality, perceptual disturbances, thought disorders, delusions, and sometimes hallucinations. These altered states of consciousness help researchers understand aspects of schizophrenia. The endocannabinoid system has become a focus of investigation due to its discovery and epidemiological evidence linking cannabis use to the onset and course of schizophrenia. Most studies examine cannabis and cannabinoid effects not directly related to psychosis. This review summarizes studies relevant to or designed as model psychosis experiments, examining their contribution to understanding endocannabinoid functioning in psychosis and schizophrenia, and outlines future research directions and cross-links to other modeling approaches.