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Describe neurotransmitters

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Describe neurotransmitters, their function, and impact on behavior. Discuss one neurotransmitter in detail describing the effect it has on our bodies and connection with disease. Discuss the importance of biology for understanding behavior.

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Describe neurotransmitters, their function, and impact on behavior.

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Neurotransmitters are chemicals that are used to relay, amplify and modulate electrical signals between a neuron and another cell. According to the prevailing beliefs of the 1960s, a chemical can be classified as a neurotransmitter if it meets the following conditions:

It is synthesized endogenously, that is, within the presynaptic neuron;
It is available in sufficient quantity in the presynaptic neuron to exert an effect on the postsynaptic neuron;
Externally administered, it must mimic the endogenously-released substance; and
A biochemical mechanism for inactivation must be present.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurotransmitter

Function:

Neurotranmitters help transfer messages throughout structures of the brain's nerve cells. These nerve cells, called neurons, are organized to control specialized activities. We each have somewhere between 10-100 billion neurons within our brains. Whenever we do anything, react, feel emotions, think, our neurons transmit messages in the form of electrical impulses from one cell to another. These electrical impulses travel ...

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  • MBA, Rochester Institute of Technology
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