This volume contains the proceedings of the symposium Pathochemical Markers in Major Psychoses, held in Vienna in July 1983. The development of biological markers in psychiatric diseases, par ticularly in the field of neurochemistry, has made substantial progress during recent years although the multiple mechanisms of mental illness are still not fully understood. The greatest contribution has come through the development of new therapeutic agents that not only pro vide invaluable help for psychiatric patients but also serve as chemical tools for the investigation of the biological mechanisms...

The discovery of chlorpromazine for the specific treatment of schizophrenic symp toms and, later on, of imipramine for the specific treatment of depressive symptoms marked a new milestone in clinical psychiatry and basic neuroscience 40 years ago. The exploration of biochemical mechanisms of action of these psychotropic drugs created new theories on the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders, such as the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia and the catecholamine and serotonin hypotheses of depression. Thus the discovery of these biological treatments had a major impact on natural...