This article reviews the neurobiological basis of the co-morbidity of nicotine addiction in schizophrenia. After a discussion of the pharmacology and physiology of nicotine and tobacco, the interactive effects of nicotine on the putative pathophysiology of schizophrenia as it relates to central dopamine, GABA and glutamate systems is discussed in terms of two models that may potentially explain this co-morbidity: the “self-medication hypothesis” and the “addiction vulnerability” hypothesis. The implications of this knowledge towards the development of rationale pharmacological treatments for co-morbid nicotine addiction and schizophrenia are discussed.
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Tony P. George (2007) studied this question.
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