megadose pharmacotherapy

a dosing strategy popular in the 1970s and 1980s in the United States and other countries, generally involving the rapid administration of very high doses of an antipsychotic drug in the hope that this would hasten an antipsychotic response. It was based on the presumption that rapid blockade of postsynaptic dopamine D2 receptors would lead to faster resolution of psychotic symptoms. This strategy was largely ineffective in producing a more rapid response and had numerous adverse effects, such as severe movement disorders and death due to neuroleptic malignant syndrome. Research published in the late 1980s showed that lower doses were as effective as higher doses and had fewer adverse consequences. Because of the lack of clinical benefit and the high incidence of adverse side effects associated with megadose pharmacotherapy, it has fallen into disuse. Also called rapid neuroleptization.

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Psychology term of the day

January 31st 2025

somatosensory system

the parts of the nervous system that serve perception of touch, vibration, pain, temperature, and position (see somatosense). Nerve fibers from receptors for these senses enter the dorsal roots of the spinal cord and ascend mainly through tracts in the dorsal columns to the ventroposterior nuclei of the thalamus, from which they are relayed (directly or indirectly) to the somatosensory areas of the parietal cortex. Also called somatic sensory system.