Neurotransmitters and Neurotransmission Quiz

Understanding Neurotransmitters and Neurotransmission

• The nervous system carries messages from one neuron to another, and these messages help in movement, sensation, heart function, and response to internal and external stimuli.
• Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that transmit signals from a neuron to a target cell across a synapse, which can be a neuron, muscle, or gland cell.
• Neurotransmitters fall into several chemical classes based on their molecular structure, function, and action, such as acetylcholine, biogenic amines, amino acids, excitatory, inhibitory, direct, or neuromodulator.
• The role of neuromodulators is to alter the properties of ion channels in a neuron, while neurotransmitters carry chemical signals from one neuron to another.
• Excitatory neurotransmitters "excite" the neuron and cause it to pass the message along, while inhibitory neurotransmitters block or prevent the message from continuing.
• Neuromodulators can affect a large number of neurons and influence the effects of other neurotransmitters.
• There are at least 100 neurotransmitters, including GABA, dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, endorphins, and acetylcholine, that play a key role in cognitive functions, pain relief, mood regulation, arousal, and learning.
• Synaptic transmission is the process by which a transmitter is released from one neuron and diffuses to other neurons or target cells, where it generates a signal that excites, inhibits, or modulates cellular activity.
• Transmission occurs at synapses that form connections between neurons, neuromuscular junctions that connect neurons with muscles, and neuroglandular junctions that connect neurons with glands.
• A synapse transmits nerve impulses from one neuron's axon terminal to the dendrites of the next neuron.
• The action potential is the process by which a "sending" cell communicates with a "receiving" cell through the synapse.
• Understanding neurotransmitters and neurotransmission is essential to understanding the functioning of the nervous system and the body's response to internal and external stimuli.