The Process of Sending Messages in the Brain: Action Potentials and Neuropeptides

KOMPAS.com – In a fraction of a second, our brains can generate thoughts, feel sensations, and respond to everything we see.

Rapid bursts of brain activity give us this ability and allow us to do many things and activities.

The way brain cells send messages

Reporting from Live Science, the first step in the process of delivering messages by brain cells is action potentials or electrical waves that are triggered in nerve cells or neurons.

Neurons found in the brain, spinal cord, and throughout the body generally transmit messages in the same way.

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Whenever there is something we need to pay attention to, for example a certain sound, the receptors in the sense organs will activate nerve cells that lead to the brain. Small tunnels in the neuron membrane will open allowing positively charged molecules or ions to enter the cell.

These charged particles ripple along the cell membrane, similar to the way electrons pass through wires in an electrical device.

This electrical signal travels from the cell membrane into its axon, which is a long tail-like structure that projects from the cell body. This axon is separated from the axon of the next nerve cell in the communication chain through a gap called a synapse.

When these electrical impulses reach the end of the axon, the neuron releases chemicals called neurotransmitters into the synapses. These chemicals wander across the gap and attach to specific receptors on the next neuron.

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If enough receptors are activated, the receiving neuron can generate its own action potential and pass the message on to other neurons in the network.

Since only cells connected via synapses can communicate via neurotransmitters, the message sent can be considered a “secret message” that can only be detected by the two neurons and not by the neurons around it.

However, Mike Ludwig, professor of neurophysiology at Edinburgh University, UK, says that neurons can also broadcast “public messages”.

Neurons do this by releasing small protein fragments, called neuropeptides, through their cell membranes.

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The action potential triggers the release of a neuropeptide, but instead of traversing the nanometer to the next neuron as neurotransmitters do, the neuropeptide travels long distances around the brain.

Floating around in the fluid that surrounds the brain, the neuropeptides eventually bind to receptors in distant brain areas. This type of communication is much slower than synaptic signals, but has far-reaching effects.

Ludwig explained, the important thing is not the signaling molecule itself, but the distribution of receptors. In animal studies, when scientists change the location and density of certain receptors, it changes the animal’s behavior.

This suggests that thought and action depend not only on directly connected nerve cells, but also on the sensitivity of different brain cells to a wide range of neuropeptides.

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For example, the neuropeptide oxytocin, called the social hormone, is released in the brain of prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) when they mate and facilitates the formation of monogamous bonds.

When researchers blocked the receptors, the animals were less interested in mating. And if the receptors are overexpressed, which means their numbers are very high, the female animal will be more eager to settle down with her chosen partner.

Oxytocin also seems to promote romantic and familial relationships in humans. Mothers with higher levels of the hormone oxytocin show a stronger attachment to their babies than mothers with lower levels of the hormone.

Similarly, another neuropeptide, alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH), appears to suppress appetite and stimulate sexual desire in both laboratory animals and humans.

Drugs that activate the same receptors as alpha-MSH reduce a person’s appetite but increase sexual desire. This suggests that hunger and sex drive are controlled by overlapping brain circuits.

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2023-09-07 11:30:00
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