Neuropsychopharmacology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 0 views
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So far as we know, everything we perceive, feel, think, know, and do are a result of neurons firing and resetting. When a cell in the brain fires, small chemical and electrical swings called the action potential may affect the firing of as many as a thousand other neurons in a process called neurotransmission. In this way signals are generated and carried through networks of neurons, the bulk electrical effect of which can be measured directly on the scalp by an EEG device. By the last decade of the 20th century, the essential knowledge of all the central features of neurotransmission had been gained.[4] These features are:
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normonique on 18 Jul 14Electrical swings jump off the page for me because there is the connection between electricity and neurons.
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It has previously been known that ultimate control over the membrane voltage or potential of a nerve cell, and thus the firing of the cell, resides with the trans-membrane ion channels which control the membrane currents via the ions K+, Na+, and Ca++, and of lesser importance Mg++ and Cl-. The concentration differences between the inside and outside of the cell determine the membrane voltage.
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Many receptors are found to be pentameric clusters of five trans-membrane proteins (not necessarily the same) or receptor subunits, each a chain of many amino acids. Transmitters typically bind at the junction between two of these proteins, on the parts that protrude from the cell membrane.
