From dopamine to the Nobel Prize: Arvid Carlsson and the foundations of neurobiology-based psychiatry

Arvid Carlsson’s discoveries transformed psychiatry by establishing a direct neurochemical basis for mental illness. By conclusively demonstrating dopamine as a neurotransmitter and elucidating its role in brain function, Carlsson laid the groundwork for biological models of schizophrenia and modern psychopharmacology. His work provided the scientific rationale for antipsychotic drug action and marked a paradigm shift from descriptive phenomenology to neurobiology-based psychiatry. Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2000, Carlsson’s contributions – alongside Paul Greengard and Eric R. Kandel – unified neurotransmission, intracellular signaling, and synaptic plasticity. This article reviews Carlsson’s life, experimental discoveries, the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia, and the enduring relevance of his work in shaping contemporary neuroscience-driven psychiatric practice.