A 38-Year-Old Woman Is Taken to the Emergency Room After

A 38-year-old woman is taken to the emergency room after raising a commotion in a retail shop. The patient claims that the government was spewing deadly gas via the store's air vents and that red clothing was a warning to escape. She was arrested for a similar offense a year earlier. At the age of 20, the patient dropped out of college. She has never worked and lives with her parents. She smokes a carton of cigarettes every day but does not drink or take drugs. The physical exam is ordinary. The patient seems preoccupied and afraid during a mental status examination. She claims to have heard the voices of two men who have been criticizing her activities for years. Which of the following abnormalities is most likely associated with this patient's symptoms?

A) Decreased dopamine activity in the mesolimbic pathway
B) Decreased dopamine activity in the nigrostriatal pathway
C) Decreased dopamine activity in the tuberoinfundibular pathway
D) Increased dopamine activity in the mesolimbic pathway
E) Increased dopamine activity in the nigrostriatal pathway
F) Increased dopamine activity in the tuberoinfundibular pathway