Simple Molecules That Turn You On and Off

In addition, the entry of calcium ions into neurons may sometimes become excessive as a result of aging, disease, or stroke and may initiate some harmful processes that may contribute to the removal of synapses or even the death of neurons. This information tells us quite a lot about the role of glutamate when it works correctly, memories can be formed when it does not work correctly, as when it induces too much calcium to enter the neuron, then death and destruction follow and memory is lost. Thus, maintaining a good balance of function related to the entry of calcium ions is a challenging but critical requirement for neurons, and the amino acid neurotransmitter glutamate plays a critical role in this process. 

Glutamate also has a unique function in brain development. When you were very young, the neurons in your brain developed many connections, or synapses, with other neurons to optimize your ability to learn a great deal of information quickly, such as how to move your hands and feet, what your mother s voice sounds like, or what the color red looks like. But as you grew older (during adolescence), your brain became a bit 

As with most drugs that affect your brain, the rate at which your blood alcohol levels rise also affect your behavior—that is, faster changes in blood alcohol levels produce more dramatic effects on your behavior. As alcohol levels increase, more and more of your brain is turned off by alcohol s enhancement of GABA. Ultimately, when blood levels become too high, neurons critical to controlling your breathing and heart rate are inactivated 

Just how safe the barbiturates are is subject to much debate. For one thing, in high doses, they are lethal, the reason that for many years barbiturate overdose was a common way by which people committed suicide. In addition, the rebound produced 

The first benzodiazepine, chlordiazepoxide, was initially synthesized in 1947 and first sold commercially in i960 as Librium (because it produced an emotional equilibrium). Shortly thereafter, diazepam was sold as Valium (Latin for be strong and well ) and quickly became the most prescribed anti-anxiety drug in the western world. Both of these drugs are converted into other psychoactive agents within the brain and body. Some of these metabolites were isolated from the urine of people taking Valium and Librium and were discovered to be quite 

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