Chaotic behavior in dopamine neurodynamics.

We report the results of the dynamics of a model of the central dopaminergic neuronal system. In particular, for certain values of a parameter k, which monitors the efficacy of dopamine at the postsynaptic receptor, chaotic solutions of the dynamical equations appear--a prediction that correlates with the observed increased variability in behavior among schizophrenics, the rapid fluctuations in motor activity among Parkinsonian patients treated chronically with L-dopa, and the lability of mood in some patients with an affective disorder. Moreover our hypothesis offers specific results concerning the appearance or disappearance of erratic solutions as a function of k and the external input to the dopamine neuronal system.