Examining Pharmacological Modulation of Neurotransmitter Release

Question: Describe about the term for Examining Pharmacological Modulation of Neurotransmitter Release. Answer: Neurotransmitters are chemicals in the brain, which communicates information to our body and brain. They pass signals through neurons, which are nerve cells of the body. Neurotransmitters are the main areas which interact with brain to pass information to all the body parts like how to eat, breath, run, drink and much more. When they go out of balance they can cause severe problems like illness, mood swing, sleeping sickness. Before they are released, are found to be stored in synaptic vesicles. If not stored in vesicles, their chances of broken down by enzymes in axon ends may increase. These are released from axon ends whenever their vesicles fuse with the membrane of axon terminals, forcing neurotransmitters in the synaptic cleft. Neurotransmitter levels drop down when exaggerated by certain agents or substances like- tension, poor diet, drugs, alcohol intake, caffeine usage and others (Uemura et al., 2015). Many types of neurotransmitters in chemical form are present in the body. Information given by neurotransmitters passes through the nerve cells across the synapse and binds to postsynaptic receptor protein; specific receptors are bounded by each neurotransmitter on the post synaptic membrane. Many different types of receptors are present for binding of different neurotransmitters (Trimbuch and Rosenmund., 2016). Binding of transmitters causes changes in the post synaptic cell exciting and inhibiting the electrical signals. This action can be diminished or stopped or made neutral in a variety of ways like: separating neurotransmitters of glial cells from the synaptic gap, uptake of the chemical released by the axon, blocking the flow of substances attached to specific receptors, and by subsequent exposure of neurotransmitter for a long time. Neurotransmitters which are present in the body are acetylcholine, serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine. Neurotransmitters either excites or inhibits neurons from performing their own action potential work. If balance is not maintained properly in between the neurons, no action potential will result. Neurotransmitters are of two kinds- Inhibitory neurotransmitters: These are involved in balancing mood and can be easily deleted from brain in case if excitatory neurotransmitters become overactive. Examples of these are- Serotonin, GABA, Dopamine. These all do not contribute to stimulate the brain. Their presence in appropriate amount in brain cells helps in maintaining stable mood operations and body balance. Lower levels can cause decreased immune system balance. Dopamine is included in both inhibitory and excitatory neurotransmitters. Excitatory neurotransmitters: These are involved directly in stimulation of the brain and do not get excited easily. Dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine are some of the examples of this type of transmitters. They cause anxiety in elevated levels and low energy, sleeping problems when in low concentration. Epinephrine is related to the stress part in the body (Merchant et al., 2015) Part two Not having a good sleep at night can be due to the imbalance in levels of serotonin; this is a bad idea to consider it as a reliable academically sound information on neurotransmitters as only having this concept, of not sleeping well can happen due to neurotransmitter balance. Sleeping sickness can be due to several reasons like tiredness, health problems and much more (Turek et al., 2016). Neurotransmitter production is necessary for good sleeping and human behavior, but sleeping sickness caused due to serotonin fluctuation does not fully supports the context. As sensations and perceptions are two different things, in the same way a single perspective cannot be considered to fully support the statement stated above. Reference Merchant, P., Sulzer, D., Sames, D. (2015). Synaptic optical imaging platforms: Examining pharmacological modulation of neurotransmitter release at discrete synapses.Neuropharmacology,98, 90-94. Trimbuch, T., Rosenmund, C. (2016). Should I stop or should I go? The role of complexin in neurotransmitter release.Nature Reviews Neuroscience,17(2), 118-125. Turek, M., Besseling, J., Spies, J. P., Knig, S., Bringmann, H. (2016). Sleep-active neuron specification and sleep induction require FLP-11 neuropeptides to systemically induce sleep.eLife,5, e12499. Uemura, E. E. (2015). Synaptic Transmission.Dukes' Physiology of Domestic Animals, 23.