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Types of Neurotransmitters

Farrukh Faheem submitted an assignment on major neurotransmitters to Dr. Hummayun Jameel. The document discusses six major neurotransmitters: glutamate, GABA, dopamine, acetylcholine, serotonin, and oxytocin. Glutamate is the most excitatory neurotransmitter in the cortex and too much can lead to neuron death. GABA works to inhibit neural signaling and plays a role in brain development. Dopamine is involved in motivation, reward processing, and movement. Acetylcholine helps translate intentions to move into actions and directs attention. Serotonin helps manage mood, appetite, sleep, and memory. Oxytocin stimulates contractions during labor and milk ejection during lact

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Sarfraz Akram
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56 views

Types of Neurotransmitters

Farrukh Faheem submitted an assignment on major neurotransmitters to Dr. Hummayun Jameel. The document discusses six major neurotransmitters: glutamate, GABA, dopamine, acetylcholine, serotonin, and oxytocin. Glutamate is the most excitatory neurotransmitter in the cortex and too much can lead to neuron death. GABA works to inhibit neural signaling and plays a role in brain development. Dopamine is involved in motivation, reward processing, and movement. Acetylcholine helps translate intentions to move into actions and directs attention. Serotonin helps manage mood, appetite, sleep, and memory. Oxytocin stimulates contractions during labor and milk ejection during lact

Uploaded by

Sarfraz Akram
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Name: Farrukh Faheem

Roll No. 18-SPS-21

Assignment topic: Major Neurotransmitters

Submitted to: Dr. Hummayun Jameel

NEUROTRANSMITTERS :
Neurotransmitter, also called chemical transmitter or chemical messenger, any of a group of chemical
agents released by neurons (nerve cells) to stimulate neighbouring neurons or muscle or gland cells,
thus allowing impulses to be passed from one cell to the next throughout the nervous system.

TYPES OF
NEUROTRANSMITTERS:
1.Glutamate:
Glutamate (GLU) is the most excitatory neurotransmitter in the cortex. Too much glutamate results in
excitotoxicity, or the death of neurons due to stroke, traumatic brain injury, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,
the debilitating neurodegenerative disorder better known Lou Gehrig’s disease. Yet, it’s not all bad news. The
excitement GLU brings is important to learning and memory: long term potentiation (LTP), the molecular
process believed to help form memories, occurs in glutamatergic neurons in the hippocampus and cortex.
2.GABA:
GABA works to inhibit neural signaling. If it inhibits cells too much, it can lead to seizures and other problems.
But this neurotransmitter also plays an important role in brain development. New research suggests that
GABA helps lay down important brain circuits in early development. Like DA, GABA also has a nickname: the
“learning chemical.” Studies have found a link between the levels of GABA in the brain and whether or not
learning is successful.

3. Dopamine:
Dopamine (DA) is often referred to as the “pleasure chemical” because it is released when mammals receive
a reward in response to their behavior; that reward could be food, drugs, or sex. It is one of the most
extensively studied neurochemicals, mainly because it plays such diverse roles in human behavior and
cognition. Dopamine is involved with motivation, decision-making, movement, reward processing, attention,
working memory, and learning. But it isn’t just a pleasure chemical. New work suggests DA also plays an
important role in Parkinson’s disease, addiction, schizophrenia, and other neuropsychiatric disorders
4.AcetylCholine:
Acetylcholine (Ach) was the first neurotransmitter discovered. It is a direct action small-molecule that works
primarily in muscles, helping to translate our intentions to move into actual actions as signals are passed
from the neurons into the muscle fiber. But it also has other roles in the brain, including helping direct
attention and playing a key role in facilitating neuroplasticity across the cortex.

5. Serotinin:
Serotonin (5HT), sometimes called the “calming chemical,” is best known for its mood modulating effects. A
lack of 5HT has been linked to depression and related neuropsychiatric disorders. But 5HT is farther reaching,
and has also been implicated in helping to manage appetite, sleep, memory, and, most recently, decision-
making behaviors.

6.Oxytocin:
This is the neurohormone in mammals, the principal functions of which are to stimulate contractions of the
uterus during labour, to stimulate the ejection of milk (letdown) during lactation, and to promote maternal
nurturing behaviour. Oxytocin is thought to influence a number of other physiological and behavioral
processes as well, particularly sexual and social behaviour in males and females. In both sexes, oxytocin is
produced by the hypothalamus and stored and secreted into the bloodstream from the posterior pituitary
gland. It is also synthesized and secreted in other tissues, including the brain, uterus, placenta, ovaries, and
testes.

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