Neuro Submission Transmitter

Neuro Submission Transmitter

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Kendra Cherry, MS, is an author and educational consultant focused on helping students learn about psychology.
Shaheen Lakhan, MD, PhD, is an award-winning physician-scientist and clinical development specialist.
A neurotransmitter is a chemical messenger that carries, boosts, and balances signals between neurons (also known as nerve cells) and target cells throughout the body. These target cells may be in glands, muscles, or other neurons.

Billions of neurotransmitter molecules constantly work to keep our brains functioning, managing everything from breathing to heartbeat to learning and concentration levels. They can also affect various psychological functions such as fear, mood, pleasure, and joy.

Some common neurotransmitters in the brain and body include serotonin, dopamine, glutamate, epinephrine, norepinephrine, and endorphins.

In order for neurons to send messages throughout the body, they need to be able to communicate with one another to transmit signals. However, neurons are not simply connected to one another.

At the end of each neuron is a tiny gap called a synapse, and to communicate with the next cell, the signal needs to be able to cross this small space. This occurs through a process known as neurotransmission.

In most cases, a neurotransmitter is released from what's known as the axon terminal after an action potential has reached the synapse, a place where neurons can transmit signals to each other.

When an electrical signal reaches the end of a neuron, it triggers the release of small sacs called vesicles containing neurotransmitters. These sacs spill their contents into the synapse, where the neurotransmitters then move across the gap toward the neighboring cells. These cells contain receptors where the neurotransmitters can bind and trigger changes in the cells.

After release, the neurotransmitter crosses the synaptic gap and attaches to the receptor site on the other neuron, either exciting or inhibiting the receiving neuron, depending on the neurotransmitter.

Receptors and neurotransmitters act like a lock-and-key system. Just as it takes the right key to open a specific lock, a neurotransmitter (the key) will only bind to a specific receptor (the lock). If the neurotransmitter is able to work on the receptor site, it triggers changes in the receiving cell.

Sometimes neurotransmitters can bind to receptors and cause an electrical signal to be transmitted down the cell (excitatory). In other cases, the neurotransmitter can actually block the signal from continuing, preventing the message from being carried on (inhibitory).

So what happens to a neurotransmitter after its job is complete? Once the neurotransmitter has had the designed effect, its activity can be stopped by three mechanisms:

The actual identification of neurotransmitters can actually be quite difficult. While scientists can observe the vesicles containing neurotransmitters, figuring out what chemicals are stored in the vesicles is not quite so simple.

Because of this, neuroscientists have developed a number of guidelines for determining whether or not a chemical should be defined as a neurotransmitter: 1

Neurotransmitters play a major role in everyday life and functioning. Scientists do not yet know exactly how many neurotransmitters exist, but more than 60 distinct chemical messengers have been identified. 2

Neurotransmitters can be classified by their function: 3

These types of neurotransmitters have excitatory effects on the neuron, meaning they increase the likelihood that the neuron will fire an action potential. Some of the major excitatory neurotransmitters include epinephrine and norepinephrine.

These types of neurotransmitters have inhibitory effects on the neuron; they decrease the likelihood that the neuron will fire an action potential. Some major inhibitory neurotransmitters include serotonin and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA).

These neurotransmitters, often referred to as neuromodulators, are capable of affecting a larger number of neurons at the same time. These neuromodulators also influence the effects of other chemical messengers. Where synaptic neurotransmitters are released by axon terminals to have a fast-acting impact on other receptor neurons, neuromodulators diffuse across a larger area and are more slow-acting.

Neurotransmitters that act as neuromodulators include acetylcholine, dopamine, serotonin, histamine, and cannabinoids.

Some neurotransmitters, such as acetylcholine and dopamine, can create both excitatory and inhibitory effects depending upon the type of receptors that are present.

There are a number of different ways to classify and categorize neurotransmitters. In some instances, they are simply divided into monoamines, amino acids, and peptides. 4

Neurotransmitters can also be categorized into one of six types:

As with many of the body's processes, things can sometimes go awry. It is perhaps not surprising that a system as vast and complex as the human nervous system would be susceptible to problems.

A few of the things that might go wrong include:

When neurotransmitters are affected by disease or drugs, there can be a number of different adverse effects on the body. Diseases such as Alzheimer's, epilepsy, and Parkinson's are associated with deficits in certain neurotransmitters.

Certain neurotransmitters play an important role in the brain by influencing mood, which is why they are sometimes described as "feel good" chemicals. Five important neurotransmitters include dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, norepinephrine, and endorphins.

Health professionals recognize the role that neurotransmitters can play in mental health conditions, which is why medications that influence the actions of the body's chemical messengers are often prescribed to help treat a variety of psychiatric conditions .

For example, dopamine is associated with such things as addiction and schizophrenia. Serotonin plays a role in mood disorders, including depression and OCD. 11 Dopamine, GABA, serotonin, and norepinephrine are linked to anxiety disorders. Drugs, such as SSRIs, may be prescribed by physicians and psychiatrists to help treat symptoms of depression or anxiety.

Medications are sometimes used alone, but they may also be used in conjunction with other therapeutic treatments including cognitive-behavioral therapy .

Perhaps the greatest practical application for the discovery and detailed understanding of how neurotransmitters function has been the development of drugs that impact chemical transmission. These drugs are capable of changing the effects of neurotransmitters, which can alleviate the symptoms of some diseases.

Drugs that can influence neurotransmission include medications used to treat illnesses including depression and anxiety, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), tricyclic antidepressants, and benzodiazepines .

For example, SSRIs such as Prozac (fluoxetine) and Paxil (paroxetine) block serotonin from being absorbed by nerve cells, increasing serotonin levels in the brain. Cholinesterase inhibitors such as Aricept (donepezil) block enzymes that break down acetylcholine, which can help improve cognitive functioning in people who have Alzheimer's disease .

Illicit drugs such as heroin , cocaine , and marijuana also affect neurotransmission. Heroin acts as a direct-acting agonist, mimicking the brain's natural opioids enough to stimulate their associated receptors. Cocaine is an example of an indirect-acting drug that influences the transmission of dopamine. 16

Neurotransmitters play a critical role in neural communication, influencing everything from involuntary movements to learning to mood. This system is both complex and highly interconnected. Neurotransmitters act in specific ways, but they can also be affected by diseases, drugs, or even the actions of other chemical messengers.

Purves D, Augustine GJ, Fitzpatrick D, et al., editors. What defines a neurotransmitter? Neuroscience. 2nd edition . Sunderland (MA): Sinauer Associates; 2001.
Valenzuela CF, Puglia MP, Zucca S. Focus on: neurotransmitter systems . Alcohol Res Health . 2011;34(1):106–120.
Wang R, Reddy PH. Role of glutamate and NMDA receptors in Alzheimer's disease . J Alzheimers Dis . 2017;57(4):1041-1048. doi:10.3233/JAD-160763
Magon, N & Kalra, S. The orgasmic history of oxytocin: love, lust and labor . Indian J Endocrinol Metab . 2011;15:S156-S161. doi:10.4103/2230-8210.84851.
Sprouse-Blum AS, Smith G, Sugai D, Parsa FD. Understanding endorphins and their importance in pain management . Hawaii Med J . 2010;69(3):70–71.
Tank AW, Lee wong D. Peripheral and central effects of circulating catecholamines . Compr Physiol . 2015;5(1):1-15. doi:10.1002/cphy.c140007
Nuutinen S, Panula P. Histamine in neurotransmission and brain diseases . Adv Exp Med Biol . 2010;709:95-107. doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-8056-4_10
Arias-Carrión O, Stamelou M, Murillo-Rodríguez E, Menéndez-González M, Pöppel E. Dopaminergic reward system: a short integrative review . Int Arch Med . 2010;3:24. doi:10.1186/1755-7682-3-24
Benarroch, EE. Adenosine triphosphate: a multifaceted chemical signal in the nervous system . Neurology . 2010;74(7). doi:10.1212/WNL.0b013e3181d03762
Hanafy KA, Oh J, Otterbein LE. Carbon Monoxide and the brain: time to rethink the dogma . Curr Pharm Des . 2013;19(15):2771–2775. doi:10.2174/1381612811319150013
National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubChem Database. Acetylcholine, CID=187 .
Berg KA, Clarke WP. Making sense of pharmacology: inverse agonism and functional selectivity . Int J Neuropsychopharmacol . 2018;21(10):962–977. doi:10.1093/ijnp/pyy071
National Institute on Drug Abuse. The neurobiology of drug addiction .
Kring, A M., Johnson, S L, Davison, GC, & Neale, J M. Abnormal Psychology . Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons; 2010.
Verkhratsky, A & Krishtal, OA. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) as a neurotransmitter. In Encyclopedia of Neuroscience , 4th Ed. Elsevier:115-123;2009.

By Kendra Cherry

Kendra Cherry, MS, is an author and educational consultant focused on helping students learn about psychology.

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Although neurotransmitter testing has become popular among many different types of health care providers, the validity and accuracy of this method of assessment have been proven to be lacking. Not only that, following a nutritional supplement protocol based on these test results can be highly counterproductive and lead to a significant setback in health or the development of new issues.
First and most importantly, the only true way to measure neurotransmitter levels in the brain is through cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The lab tests that have become so trendy at this time are most often utilizing urine, but may also use blood (plasma) or saliva for analysis. None of these methods have proven to correlate with test results acquired through CSF. Blood (platelet) testing results correspond very closely to CSF, but only for dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. However, blood platelet testing isn’t available outside the research setting at many labs besides Vitamin Diagnostics.
Mental health counselor and author of The Mood Cure , Julia Ross, writes in a Townsend article , that testing performed at Vitamin Diagnostics, by Dr. Audhya’s staff found that neither urine nor blood plasma results correspond to cerebrospinal fluid testing results. According to Dr. Audhyas, “levels of serotonin and the catecholamines are known to be stable and abundant in the blood platelets, but not in blood plasma, the levels of which are extremely reactive to stress (even the stress of the blood draw!). Additionally, “levels of neurotransmitters in urine vary rapidly in reaction to both stress, chemistry and diet-related (especially pH) changes.”
Ross also writes, “because neurotransmitter levels are so low in plasma, plasma testing is used primarily to track the dramatic increases in serotonin and catecholamines that can result from malignant tumors that secrete large amounts of one or the other of these neurotransmitters.” So they can be beneficial in this capacity.
When I was studying under Dr. Charles Gant at the Academy of Functional Medicine, I asked him if neurotransmitter testing was reliable and he said, it could be useful only for tracking malignant tumors that secrete neurotransmitters, but “it tells us nothing about what is going on in the brain.”
Neurotransmitters are produced in the gut in addition to the brain. The enteric nervous system sometimes referred to as the gut-brain, has 100 million neurons and manufactures more than 30 neurotransmitters that work independently from the brain to regulate gastrointestinal functions. However, only neurotransmitters produced in the brain can be accessed and used by the brain. Nutritional consultant and author of Primal Body Primal Mind , Nora Gedgaudas, explains, “as such, a urinary serotonin test is more likely a measurement of the neurotransmitter produced in the gut than serotonin produced in the brain.” I would add this would be true of any neurotransmitter, not just serotonin.
On the other hand, although neurotransmitters in the gut cannot be used by the brain, they do send signals to the brain via the vagus nerve, which can influence our mood, appetite, cognitive functions, memory, decision making, stress levels, and more. From birth to death, all microbes in the gut communicate with our brain, and may actually influence how our brain is wired. Therefore, changing the gut biome may change the way the brain is wired.
Furthermore, not only does our gut produce neurotransmitters, but so can the microbes that inhabit our gut. Microbes (both friendly and pathogenic) can create false neurotransmitters that can interact with neurons and impair enzymes needed for breaking down neurotransmitters. Thus, each of these scenarios can artificially influence levels that may be present in a urine test.
Neurotransmitter levels vary greatly from day to day and even go up and down throughout the day in response to numerous other factors like our stress levels, the food we’ve eaten, blood sugar levels, exposure to environmental toxins, emotional conflict or trauma, demands of life, medications, herbal supplements, recreational drugs, alcohol, caffeine or nicotine use, and microbial overgrowth. Depending on the impact inflicted, this could lead to elevations or depletions at various times.
A neurotransmitter test provides results based on a particular moment in time when the sample is collected. Neurotransmitter levels could be vastly different minutes or hours after the test, even if we had a test that measures neurotransmitters in the brain effectively.
Additionally, there are many other factors that lab testing does not take into account. Even if you have optimal levels of neurotransmitters, there are other circumstances that can affect how well they are utilized or perform their functions.
Furthermore, if a leaky brain is present due to a breakdown in zonulin ( a substance that forms the blood-brain barrier) then undigested food particles, microbes, their toxins, and their false neurotransmitters may affect the brain’s neurons and neurotransmitters directly. Under normal circumstances, the blood-brain barrier would prevent these substances from reaching the brain.
So, even if you have optimal levels of neurotransmitters there can still be problems with production or function and the consequential symptoms associated with these issues. For example, you may exhibit classic signs of serotonin or dopamine deficiency, not because you have insufficient levels, but due to one of the issues mentioned above.
It’s important to note that if your symptoms are due to one of these other contributing factors, supplements des
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