How Neurons Send and Receive Signals.
A neurotransmitter is a chemical composition of a messenger that balances signal, boosts, and carries the signal between neurons, also known as the nerve cells. These neurotransmitters target the cells throughout the body, found in the muscles, glands, or other neurons. Billions of molecules transmitters constantly work to keep our brains working and manages breathing, concentration level, heartbeat, and learning process. They affect various psychological functions such as joy, pleasure, fear, and mood.
Millions of transmitters are classified depending on the functions and their structures (Heintz, 2012). Focusing on the function of the different useful neurotransmitters, here are the examples.
- Excitatory neurotransmitters- these transmitters are responsible for the increase of electrical excitability on the side of post-synaptic with trans-membrane ion, which flows to help in the facilitation of potential action.
- Neuromodulators- these transmitters alters the strength of transmission between those neurons that affect the number of neurotransmitters released and produced.
- Inhibitory neurotransmitters decrease the electrical excitability on the side of post-synaptic that prevents the propagation of an action potential.
The drugs alter the neurotransmission, and they produce feelings of pleasure when they are abused through the altering of transmission when there is a release of the neurotransmitter dopamine. The drugs abuse the communication between the neurons, which is mediated by dopamine. The synapse is complex and has a variety of sites that the drugs affect in the synaptic transmission. Increasing the amount of neurotransmitter into the synaptic space affects the synaptic transmissions. Drugs like heroin, alcohol, and nicotine excites the dopamine indirectly that contains neurons, which are found in the ventral tegmental area. These neurons produce more potential actions. When the action potentials increase, the amount of the dopamine to be released increases to the synapse. The amphetamines cause the release of dopamine from the vesicles. It is independent of the rate of action potentials, and the dose can cause relatively quick results depending on the amount. It can also cause a relative rise in the levels of extracellular dopamine (Hong, 2014).
The nicotine in the body acts on the cells in the body in the VTA, which increases the vises that are produced from the neuron and increases the number of an action potential. They also act by another mechanism, which alters the release of dopamine. When the nicotine turns into nicotine receptors on the dopamine, containing the axon terminal, there is a release of each action potential. This will excite the neurons, which fires more potential actions. The electrical signals move towards the synapse, which causes the release of more dopamine. The nicotine receptors in the nerve terminal when the nicotine has been bound, and the amount of dopamine release in the response will increase the action potential.
Alcohol affects the neurons in the brain in many ways. It alters the ion channels and the membranes, the receptors, and the enzymes. They also bind the acetylcholine receptors directly, the GABA, and the serotine and the NMDA receptors for the glutamate. The GABA decreases the activities of the neuron by allowing the chloride ions into the post-synaptic neurons. Alcohol binds to the GADA neurons activities and receptor to be diminished further. This explains that the sedatives effects of alcohol. The effect of excitatory is reduced by alcohol by blocking the receptors activated by the glutamate, which is the NMDA receptors.
References.
Heintz, Jake. “Professor Toney Human Development 10/17/2012 Neurons, Neurotransmitters, and Neurotransmitter Reuptake Inhibitors.” Human Development 10 (2012): 17.
Hong, S., & Hikosaka, O. (2014). Pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus neurons provide a reward, sensorimotor, and alerting signals to midbrain dopamine neurons. Neuroscience, 282, 139-155.