Neurotransmitter's

A neurotransmitter is a chemical. These chemicals are located as well as released in the brain. They allow impulses to pass from one nerve cell to another. Nerve cells secrete neurotransmitters to communicate messages to one another because they do not directly touch one another. These nerve cells are known as neurons. Neurons can either be excited or inhibited by neurotransmitters. We know of approximately 50 different types of neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters both directly and indirectly influence neurons which affect behavior.

            “A nerve impulse travels through a nerve in a long, slender cellular structure called an axon, and it eventually reaches a structure called the presynaptic membrane, which contains neurotransmitters to be released in a free space called the synaptic cleft” (Finley, 2012). Receptors then pick up the freely flowing neurotransmitters located in the postsynaptic membrane of a different neuron nearby. Once the molecule is picked up by the by the receptors of the postsynaptic membrane, it is internalized in the neuron and the impulse continues on.

            Norepinephrine is associated with alertness and eating. Not having enough is associated with depression, whereas having too much is associated with schizophrenia. People with schizophrenia have delusions, hallucinations, thought disorders, di8sorganized behavior, lack of emotion, social withdraw, loss of motivation, inability to make sense of information, inability to pay attention, and problems with memory. Dopamine is correlated with attention, movement, and learning. “Problems with certain naturally occurring brain chemicals, including the neurotransmitters dopamine and glutamate, also may contribute to schizophrenia” (MayoClinic, 2012) Dopamine in excess is associated with schizophrenia, where as a lack of dopamine is associated with some forms of depression as well as several symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s disease symptoms include muscular rigidity and tremors. The neurotransmitter problems contribute to the diseases. In the diseases, the flow of the neurotransmitter is defective. “In depression, the flow of the inhibitory neurotransmitter serotonin is defective, and molecules flow back to their originating site (the presynaptic membrane) instead of to receptors on the postsynaptic membrane” (Finley, 2012).

References

Finley, M. (2012). Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders. Retrieved from Neurotransmitters: http://www.minddisorders.com/Kau-Nu/Neurotransmitters.html

MayoClinic. (2012). MayoClinic. Retrieved from Schizophrenia: http://www.bing.com/health/article/mayo-MADS00196/Schizophrenia?q=schizophrenia&qpvt=schizophrenia