Everyone Was Wrong About Antipsychotics

Next, Parker wondered how general this effect is. Most antipsychotics developed over the past 70 years stick to dopamine receptors, but a new generation binds to other sites, like acetylcholine receptors. Might these new drugs still be doing something to D1 neurons indirectly?

Parker’s team picked three promising new drugs—all in the final clinical trials needed for FDA approval—and repeated the first round of experiments. All three somehow normalized D1 activity too. “We were really surprised,” Parker says.

Schmack says it’s “fascinating” that this pattern holds for…