What is a Neurotransmitter?
The term neurotransmitter refers to a whole collection of chemicals that serve to connect neurons together. We typically think of neurons coming together at a place that we call the synapse. Neurotransmitters are typically released from one neuron; they travel across the space, where they interact with a receptor in sort of a lock and key manner. There are a lot of different neurotransmitter systems in the brain. You may have heard of some of these, such as the serotonin system, the dopamine system, the norepinephrine system; these are some of the most prominent ones that have been studied for many years. However, there are probably 40 to 50 other chemicals that are also very important in this neuronal communication. We know that a lot of the medications that we use for treating mental illness have their effect on specific neurotransmitter systems. Sometimes they can affect how much of a neurotransmitter is released, and they can also affect how they bind to that receptor on the other
