Final answer:
The symptoms of schizophrenia are thought to be caused by an excess of dopamine activity in the brain, which is addressed by antipsychotic medications that act as dopamine receptor antagonists.
Step-by-step explanation:
The symptoms of schizophrenia are thought to be caused by excess activity at synapses that release dopamine in the brain. This is known as the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia.
Antipsychotic medications used for treating these symptoms work as antagonists for dopamine - they bind to dopamine receptors but do not activate them, thus preventing the released dopamine from signaling information to adjacent neurons.
As a result, they help in reducing the overactive neurotransmission of dopamine, which is believed to be a contributing factor to the symptoms of schizophrenia. It is also important to note that alongside dopamine, there may be problems with glutamate signaling in schizophrenia as well, indicating that the disease is complex and involves multiple neurotransmitters.