[The central dopaminergic system and depression].

This review presents data supporting the involvement of the dopaminergic system in depressive illness. Neuroanatomical research, animal research and clinical studies have shown that a dysfunction of the mesolimbic dopaminergic system could be associated with depressive symptoms. Furthermore, the chronic administration of antidepressants in animals provokes a sensitisation and enhanced expression of dopaminergic receptors. Although the dopaminergic system has received little attention in biological research on depression in the last decades, current research on the dopaminergic system is about to change this situation