describe neurotransmitter, thier function and impact on behavior?

Answer 1

neurotransmitter are found in the terminal buttons. The terminal buttons are balls at the end of axons that contain little vacuoles (vesicles i believe is the term for the pockets in brain cells) point is, there are pockets, each with neurotransmitters inside. Lets back up for a moment... the most important concept to acknowledge, is that all emotions, cognitons, every action and behavior is due to some form of chemical change in our brain and or body. Our bodies are complex chemical reactors. Now, neurotransmitters are responsible for a lot and even most of of what we do both unconditionally and conditionally. When the neurotransitter is released, it crosses a fluid filled gap known as the synaptic cleft. The releasing neuron is known as the presynaptic neuron and the recieving neuron is known as the post synaptic neuron. The N.T. docks at a receptor site- like a key in a lock and transferrs the information. Lets say for instance, that this N.T. is designed to heat up the body in response to cold. This message will reach a particular module of the brain n then send the message to the spine and then the sympathetic nervous system will activate bodily parts and efferent nerves will bring the message to muscles and u will start to shiver to heat up your body. And that is an 1 example of how a N.T. can cause a behavior(shaking)

Answer 2

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describe neurotransmitter, thier function and impact on behavior?

Answer 3

There are several neurotransmitters. They all play a role in signalling messages from one neuron in the nervous system to another. The signalling is done by binding to a "receptor" on the next neuron over.

Serotonin is the most widely-known (because of its role in depression). For the most part, it is a "calming" neurotransmitter. It can hit many different "receptors", causing different effects. Often these effects are complete opposites of each other... one receptor can relieve depression, and another one can cause suicidality! (That's one reason proposed as to why there's an increased risk of suicidality during the first few weeks of taking an antidepressant.)

Dopamine is another one, and for the most part it is stimulating. It is most well known for its role in schizophrenia and the other psychoses --- most researchers think that excess dopamine activity causes the symptoms of these disorders. Unsurprisingly, these disorders are treated with dopamine-blocking medications. Illegal drugs like methamphetamine, and especially crack/cocaine have a very strong effect, increasing dopamine activity greatly.

Another "biggie" in the neurotransmitter world is norepinephrine, known also as noradrenaline. As its name suggests, it's similar to adrenaline (another neurotransmitter), and you can probably guess that it's a bit stimulating. It is the reason that some older antidepressants (the "TCA" drugs) can cause some patients to become very irritable --- TCAs work on both serotonin as well as norepinephrine. Norepinephrine, unsurprisingly, is also implicated in decreasing pain sensations (like in the "fight or flight" response, where most people have less pain sensation so they can work on getting their butts out of trouble).

Another neurotransmitter is Acetylcholine (ACh), occasionally referred to as "choline" (though choline is actually an inactive form of acetylcholine!). It is involved in learning and memory. Many people take "cholinergic" supplements (like gingko and DMAE) to improve memory.

There are also other neurotransmitters... "GABA" in general calms down brain activity (most anti-seizure drugs are pro-GABA). The transmitter "NMDA" binds to its receptor and then causes changes in the shape of the cell - it's involved in learning (changing around the connections in your brain), and too much can be toxic since it can break up neurons.

That's all I can think of for now. Sorry for being so long-winded....

Answer 4

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