Improvement of schizophrenia negative and positive symptoms with amantadine as add-on therapy to antipsychotics: a case series

Short-Term Treatment of Catatonia With Amantadine in Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective Disorder

“…Some lines of evidence suggest that amantadine is efficient in treating the negative and cognitive symptoms of SZ. 9,11 Amantadine increases the monoaminergic tonus through increased release of dopamine, noradrenaline, and serotonin in the amygdala and hippocampus. 13 Amantadine and its analog, memantine, act by modulating the glutamate tonus through partial agonism of NMDA receptors and have an important role on cognition, learning, and recent memory recall.…”

Mania switch induced by amantadine in bipolar disorder: report of three cases

“…2 It has also been demonstrated that serum levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is a protein related to neuroplasticity, are decreased during BD mood episodes. 3 The adjunctive use of amantadine, a memantine derivative, has shown to be conducive to cognitive improvement in subjects with SZ 4 and BD. 5 This is so because amantadine has several properties: a) it increases the monoaminergic tonus via dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin in the amygdala and hippocampus b) has an antidepressant activity c) directly modulates glutamate as a partial agonist of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, and d) contributes to BDNF increase and stabilizes the neuronal membrane.…”