Neuromodulator

Neuromodulators are chemical substances that affect the way the nervous system works . They can be produced by the body itself and are essential for the normal, physiological functioning of the brain. Neuromodulators are also numerous pharmacologically active substances that are supplied to the body from the outside and act as medicaments or drugs . The synapse is superordinate to these substances - an anatomical structure that makes neuromodulation possible in the first place. Here electrical impulses, so-called action potentials, are converted into chemical signal transmission.

Neuromodulatory substances are:

Cotransmitter

Substance P , a tachykinin that increases the perception of pain and is found in the gastrointestinal tract .
Neuropeptide Y , a neuropeptide that is involved in the development and emotional processing of hunger and that modulates the action of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine .
Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), which affects the action of acetylcholine on the gastrointestinal tract and is found in neurons of the parasympathetic system.
Nitric oxide (NO), a retrograde transmitter that plays an important role in learning in terms of long-term potentiation .
Trace amines , monoamines, which only occur in small amounts in the nervous system, the effects of which have not yet been fully understood, but which have a large part in our sensations.
and much more

Cotransmitters affect the way a neurotransmitter works on a neuron . They are released by numerous - perhaps all - neurons in the brain and react much more slowly than the classic, fast neurotransmitters. But they have a long-lasting effect from a few minutes (flush) to lifelong ( memories , learning ) and have a range over large areas of the central nervous system to the periphery (all cotransmitters are found in the gastrointestinal tract). They play a part in attention , behavior, waking and sleeping functions, vegetative reactions, thirst , hunger , sexual behavior and much more. Cotransmitters are the subject of current research, and it is only slowly that one begins to understand how diverse and complex the interaction of chemical signal transmission actually is is.

Other neuromodulators

Psychotropic drugs , e.g. B. Antidepressants
Anesthetics
Narcotics
Analgesics
histamine
Substances that affect the autonomic nervous system

opiate
Amphetamines
Cannabinoids
cocaine
Psychedelics (e.g. LSD )
and many other alkaloids from plants and fungi

literature

Spitzer: Geist im Netz (models for learning, thinking and acting) , 2000, ISBN 3-8274-0572-6
Aktories u. a .: Pharmacology and Toxicology , Urban & Fischer, 9th edition 2005
Purves et al. a .: Neuroscience Including Sylvius , 3rd edition 2004, Sinauer Verlag, ISBN 0878937250
Nicholls, Martin, Wallace, Fuchs: From Neuron To Brain , 4th edition 2001, Sinauer Verlag, ISBN 0878934391
Klinke, Papge, Silbernagl: Physiologie , Thieme 2005, ISBN 3137960053
Birbaumer, Schmidt: Biological Physiology , Springer
Wilson: Biological foundations of human behavior , 2nd edition 2003, Thomson / Wadsworth, ISBN 0155074865