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Neurotransmitters *Acetylcholine (ach) Ø Cholinergic Ø Function: Excitatory at the neuromuscular junction, autonomic ganglion, and certain glandular tissues in the CNS; has inhibitory actions at certain smooth muscles and at cardiac muscle Ø Sleep, arousal, pain perception, movement, memory Ø Effect of deficit: Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease Ø Effect of surplus: Depression Histamine Ø Monoamine Ø Function: Excitatory Ø Wakefulness, pain sensation, inflammatory response Ø Effects of deficit: depression *Dopamine (DA) Ø Monoamines Ø Function: both excitatory and inhibitory Ø Pleasurable sensations involved in movement, coordination, emotions, voluntary judgement, release of prolactin Ø Effect of deficit: Parkinson’s disease, depression Ø Effect of surplus: schizophrenia, mania Serotonin Ø Monoamine Ø Function: inhibitory Ø Sleep and arousal, libido, appetite, mood, aggression, pain perception, coordination, judgement Ø Effect of deficit: depression Ø Effect of surplus: anxiety Norepinephrine (NE) Ø Monoamine Ø Function: excitatory Ø Used for mood, cognition, perception, locomotion, CV functioning, and sleep and arousal Ø Effect of deficit: mental disorders, especially depression Ø Effects of surplus: anxiety, mania, schizophrenia GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) Ø Amino acid Ø Function: inhibitory Ø Used to offset excitatory messages and slowdown of body activity Ø Effect of deficit: anxiety, seizures, tremors, schizophrenia and Huntington’s disease Ø ? Effect of surplus: sleep and eating disorders ?

Endorphins Ø Neuropeptide Ø Function: inhibitory Ø Involved in pain perception and positive emotions; similar to opiates Ø Effect of deficit: body experiences pain Ø Effect of surplus: key may not give adequate warning about pain; artificial highs Glutamate and Aspirate Ø Amino acid Ø Function: excitatory Ø Used in memory, learning, and movement; helps messages cross the synapse more efficiently Ø Effects of deficit: schizophrenia Ø Effect of surplus: epileptic seizures, Huntington’s disease, spinal cerebellar degeneration, anxiety, depressive disorders Glycine Ø Amino acid Ø Function: inhibitory Ø Recurrent inhibition of motor neurons Ø Effects of deficit: correlated w/ spastic motor movements Ø Effects of surplus: glycine encephalopathy D-Serine Ø Amino acid Ø Function: excitatory Ø Bind at NMDA receptors (which are involved in the formation of new synapses important for learning and memory) and w/ glutamate, is a coagonist whose functions include mediating NMDA receptor transmission, synaptic plasticity, neurotoxicity Ø Effects of deficit: schizophrenia *Somatostatin Ø Neuropeptide Ø Function: both excitatory and inhibitory Ø Depending on the part of the brain affected, stimulates release of dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine and acetylcholine, and inhibits release of norepinephrine, histamine, and glutamate; also acts as a neuromodulator for serotonin in the hypothalamus Ø Effects of deficit: Alzheimer’s disease Ø Effects of surplus: Huntington’s disease...