DOPAMINE

As the neuroscientist Read Montague says, “The dopamine system is hijacked by every drug of abuse, destroyed by Parkinson’s disease, and perturbed by various forms of mental illness.”38 Antipsychotic drugs that alleviate the fl orid delusional symptoms of schizophrenia are known to reduce the activity of the dopamine system, whereas administering dopamine to Parkinson’s patients, who already have impaired dopamine production, can induce hallucinations and supernatural experiences.