Common neurotransmitter, their function and deficiency disorder

Acetylcholine

It is a very widely distributed excitatory neurotransmitter that triggers muscle contraction of certain hormones. In the central nervous system, it is involved in wakefulness, attentiveness, anger, aggression, sexuality, and thirst among other things. Alzheimer's disease is associated with a lack of acetylcholine in certain regions of the brain.

 

 

Dopamine

 It is a neurotransmitter involved in controlling movement and posture. It also modulates mood and plays a central role in positive reinforcement and dependency. The loss of dopamine in certain parts of the brain causes the muscle rigidity typical of Parkinson's disease, increase dopamine causes schizophrenia.

 

GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid)

 It is an inhibitory neurotransmitter that is very widely distributed in the neurons of the cortex. GABA contributes to motor control, vision, and many other cortical functions. It also regulates anxiety. Some drugs that increase the level of GABA in the brain are used to treat epilepsy and to calm the trembling of people suffering from Huntington's disease.

 

Glutamate

It is a major excitatory neurotransmitter that is associated with learning and memory. It is also thought to be associated with Alzheimer's disease, whose first symptoms include memory malfunctions.

 

Norepinephrine

It is a neurotransmitter that is important for attentiveness, emotions, sleeping, dreaming, and learning. Norepinephrine is also released as a hormone into the blood where it causes blood vessels to contract and heart rate to increase. It plays a role in mood disorders such as manic depression.

 

Serotonin

 It contributes to various functions such as regulating body temperature, sleep, mood, appetite, and pain. Depression, suicide, impulsive behavior, and aggressiveness all appear to involve certain imbalances in serotonin.

 

Common neurotransmitter

 

1.   Acetylcholine

2.   Dopamine

3.   GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid)

4.   Norepinephrine

5.   Serotonin

 

Mood disorder

 A mood disorder is a mental health problem that primarily affects a person’s emotional state. It is a disorder in which a person experiences long periods of extreme happiness, extreme sadness, or both. It is normal for someone’s mood to change, depending on the situation.

Or

 It is a sustained subjective feeling state which can be described by qualities such as happiness, sadness, worry, anxiety, irritability, anger, detachment, and indifference.

 

Types of mood with an example:

 

1.   Elated - In Mania

2.   Sad - In Depression

3.   Fear - In Phobia

4.   Anger - In Schizophrenia

5.   Anxious - In Anxiety neurosis

6.   Irritable - In Hypomania

7.   Blunting - In Schizophrenia

8.   Flat - In Schizophrenia

 

Types of Mood disorder / affective disorder

 

· Major depressive disorder (MDD)

· Bipolar mood disorder (BMD)

· Mood disorder due to general medical condition e.g. Typhoid Fever

· Mood disorder due to drug/substance inducement.

Mood disorder