What are neurotransmitters? Neurotransmitters are chemicals that transmit information in your brain and from your brain to the rest of your body. What they do is either promote or inhibit electrical impulses along your nerves.
Serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine (aka adrenalin) are some of the neurotransmitters that receive frequent attention. However, there are hundreds of different known types.
Neurotransmitters do their work within your nervous system, which includes your brain. Nerve cells don’t actually connect to each other, there’s a gap between them referred to as a synapse. It is in this synapse that neurotransmitters perform their message relaying task. And what goes on in this gap has a profound affect on your mood and metabolism.
Neurotransmitter imbalances are implicated, at least in part, for causing various disorders, like:
- ALS
- PMS
- obesity
- anxiety
- insomnia
- migraines
- depression
- ADD/ADHD
- chronic pain
- fibromyalgia
- panic attacks
- hypoglycemia
- chronic fatigue
- sleep disorders
- digestive issues
- eating disorders
- Parkinson’s disease
- restless leg syndrome
- menopausal symptoms
Several of these neurotransmitter imbalance caused disorders are often treated with drugs because the action of some drugs mimic those of naturally occurring neurotransmitters. For example, pain relievers get in the gap and hit the endorphin receptors to accomplish their effects. Endorphins are your body’s natural pain relievers.
Drugs aside, a neurotransmitter imbalance that cause some health conditions might be correctable via more natural means. Exercise changes your brain chemistry, which might help with your depression. Increasing omega-3 fatty acids in your diet might help facilitate your brain’s use of serotonin and dopamine to combat depression. Bright light exposure alters brain chemistry to synch your circadian rhythm to assist with sleep and seasonal affective disorder.
And simply changing to a positive attitude has proven to cause a shift in neurotransmitter balance.