ENTRIES A–Z
Philip Winn in Dictionary of Biological Psychology, 2003
Neurochemistry is the study of the chemistry of the nervous system. Used as a noun, neurochemical refers to a chemical having a neural function. All NEUROTRANSMITTERS are neurochemicals, for instance. As an adjective neurochemical is used to described processes, events, or mechanisms that pertain to chemical transmission in the nervous system. Neurochemical processes therefore pertain to the events that are associated with this process, including modulation of release of the transmitter, control of extracellular levels, action of the neurochemical on receptors, such as POSTSYNAPTIC RECEPTORS, PRESYNAPTIC autoreceptors, and REUPTAKE sites, and intracellular events. Such things are the subject matter of neurochemistry. Researchers in the fields of NEUROPHARMACOLOGY and PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY also investigate neurochemical processes.
Overview of Neurotransmission: Relationship to the Action of Antiepileptic Drugs
Carl L. Faingold, Gerhard H. Fromm in Drugs for Control of Epilepsy:, 2019
In the sections that follow we have reviewed the fundamental aspects of the neuro-chemistry of neurotransmitters of interest and briefly discussed how certain antiepileptic drugs have been shown to influence those individual neurotransmitters. The purpose is simply to provide an overview of the neurochemistry that can be used to understand the material in subsequent chapters without additional reference materials. The reader will note that considerably more space has been devoted to discussing neurotransmitter neurochemistry than to the action of antiepileptic drugs on neurotransmitters. The reason for the disproportionate devotion of space is that the mechanism of action of antiepileptic drugs (including the role of neurotransmitters therein) is discussed in more detail in the individual chapters (elsewhere in this monograph) devoted to each of those drugs. An overview of the effects of antiepileptic drugs on the various neurotransmitters can also be found in Table 1.
Pharmacological interventions
Ilana B. Crome, Richard Williams, Roger Bloor, Xenofon Sgouros in Substance Misuse and Young People, 2019
It is important for any clinician who starts these assessments to be able to recognise the key presentations in young people that are associated with the main groups of drug misuse (opiates, stimulants and cocaine, psychedelics and novel psychoactive substances, benzodiazepines, cannabis and alcohol) that are the topics on which this book focuses. The rationale for pharmacological intervention is then based upon the chemistry of the drug group that each young person is using, their presentation and their needs. Presentations are likely to be varied and complex and cover a range of medical states from acute intoxication, problems associated with regular use, and various states of dependence or states of withdrawal, depending upon the drug or combinations of drugs. In terms of brain chemistry, dopamine is viewed as the most important neurotransmitter that mediates substance dependence and exerts its effects mainly by stimulating a reward mechanism (see Chapter 10) and Figure 26.1.
Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic analysis of changes in brain metabolites following electroconvulsive therapy in patients with major depressive disorder
Published in International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice, 2020
Şakir Tosun, Mesude Tosun, Gür Akansel, Aziz Mehmet Gökbakan, Hatice Ünver, Ümit Tural
This study has several limitations. The main limitation of study was the small sample size. This could lead type II statistical error due to low power. Another limitation of the study is the relatively short wash-out period for medication; we stopped psychotropic medication only 1 week prior to ECT. This may have prevented us from excluding drugs’ effects completely and could be accepted as a reason of the indifference between patient and control groups in terms of basal metabolite concentration. We investigated ECT’s effects and this may be considered as a paucity; early metabolic changes can not help us in predicting changes later. And, we selected some brain areas for this study, but brain chemistry varies across different regions and thus warrants further investigations. And also it would be interesting to add MDD patients treated with medication to see whether the changes triggered by ECT are similar or different to those of antidepressants.
Two Decades of Progress “Toward a National PTSD Brain Bank,” on the Occasion of Dr. Matthew J. Friedman’s Retirement
Published in Psychiatry, 2022
In their manuscript that stimulated Friedman and Harris’ commentary (2004), Osuch et al. (2004) pointed out that PTSD was the only enduring mental illness that contained environmental exposure (trauma exposure) in the diagnostic criteria. They posited that PTSD resulted not from physical damage to the body, but to the reaction of the CNS to these environmental exposures. To examine this hypothesis, access to brain tissue was necessary to examine changes in brain chemistry and gene expression as a function of this environmental exposure. While some outcomes could be measured or inferred from neuroimaging or biomarker measurements, histological confirmation in postmortem specimens was required to fully characterize the pathophysiology underlying PTSD. Osuch et al. (2004) thus advocated for a resource that collected brain tissue from PTSD cases, exposed controls (resilient to trauma exposure), unexposed controls, and controls with comorbid conditions (depression, substance use). These recommendations were embraced in the Friedman and Harris commentary, and the subsequent development of the VA PTSD Brain Bank reflected these recommendations.
Gut microbes in neurocognitive and mental health disorders
Published in Annals of Medicine, 2020
Tyler Halverson, Kannayiram Alagiakrishnan
There is evolving evidence that the GM can influence the brain cells in addition to intestinal cells, supporting that gut microbial composition contributes to brain health. The connection between the GM and the central nervous system, with implications for mental health, including cognition, has been discussed. Bowel microbes can produce neurotransmitters found in the human brain, thus having an influence on the brain neurochemistry, and also on brain disorders including cognitive, mood and behavioural ones. In summary, these observations in animal and human studies showed the evidence for an association between gut dysbiosis through the microbiota-gut brain axis with different mental health and neurocognitive disorders. Moreover, psychotropics used to treat these mental disorders can affect the GM due to their antimicrobial effects. The novel strategies of microbiota interventions, such as probiotic use and faecal transplant, may have a role in the clinical management of mental health disorders. More research is needed in all these areas before applying these strategies in clinical practice.
Related Knowledge Centers
- Biochemistry
- Nervous System
- Neural Network
- Neurochemical
- Neuropeptide
- Psychoactive Drug
- Synapse
- Neurotransmitter
- Neuroscience
- Neuron