Neurotransmitter System

In Neuromodulation several classes of neurotransmitters regulate diverse populations of central nervous system neurons (one neuron uses different neurotransmitters to connect to several neurons). This is in contrast to direct synaptic transmission, in which one presynaptic neuron directly influences a postsynaptic partner (one neuron reaching one other neuron), neuromodulatory transmitters secreted by a small group of neurons diffuse through large areas of the nervous system, having an effect on multiple neurons. Examples of neuromodulators include dopamine, serotonin, acetylcholine, histamine and others.

A neuromodulator is a relatively new concept. It can be conceptualized as a neurotransmitter that is not reabsorbed by the pre-synaptic neuron or broken down into a metabolite. Such neuromodulators end up spending a significant amount of time in the CSF (cerebrospinal fluid), influencing (or modulating) the overall activity level of the brain. For this reason, some neurotransmitters are also considered as neuromodulators, such as serotonin and acetylcholine.

Neuromodulation is often contrasted with classical fast synaptic transmission. In both cases the transmitter acts on local postsynaptic receptors, but in neuromodulation the receptors are typically 7-membrane spanning G-protein coupled receptors while in the latter case they are ligand-gated ion channels. The former type of synaptic transmission often involves effects on voltage-gated ion channels, and is quite slow. The latter type is much faster. A related distinction is also sometimes drawn between modulator and driver synaptic inputs to a neuron, but here the emphasis is on modulating ongoing neuronal spiking versus causing that spiking.

Neuromodulators may alter the output of a physiological system by acting on the associated inputs (for instance, central pattern generators). However, modeling work suggests that this alone is insufficient, because the neuromuscular transformation from neural input to muscular output may be tuned for particular ranges of input. Stern et al. (2007) suggest that neuromodulators must act not only on the input system but must change the transformation itself to produce the proper contractions of muscles as output.

Neurotransmitter systems are systems of neurons in the brain expressing certain types of neurotransmitters, and thus form distinct systems. Activation of the system causes effects in large volumes of the brain, called volume transmission.

The major neurotransmitter systems are the noradrenaline (norepinephrine) system, the dopamine system, the serotonin system and the cholinergic system. Drugs targeting the neurotransmitter of such systems affects the whole system, and explains the mode of action of many drugs.

Most other neurotransmitters, on the other hand, e.g. glutamate, GABA and glycine, are used very generally throughout the central nervous system.

Further reading: Norepinephrine#Norepinephrine system

The noradrenaline system consists of just 1500 neurons on each side of the brain, primarily in the locus caeruleus. This is diminutive compared to the more than 100 billion neurons in the brain. As with domaminergic neruons in the substantia nigro, neurons in the locus caeruleus tend to be melanin-pigmented. In spite of their small number, when activated, the system plays major roles in the brain, as seen in table above. Noradrenaline is released from the neurons, and acts on adrenergic receptors.

Further reading: Dopamine#Functions in the brain

The dopamine or dopaminergic system consists of several pathways, originating from the ventral tegmentum or substantia nigra as examples. It acts on dopamine receptors.

Parkinson's disease is at least in part related to dropping out of dopaminergic cells in deep-brain nuclei, primarily the melanin-pigmented neurons in the substantia nigra but secondarily the noradreergic neurons of the locus ceruleus. Treatments potentiating the effect of dopamine precursors have been proposed and effected, with moderate success.

Further reading: Serotonin#Gross anatomy

The serotonin system in the CNS contains only 1% of total body serotonin, the rest being found as transmitters in the peripheral nervous system. It travels around the brain along the medial forebrain bundle and acts on serotonin receptors. In the peripheral nervous system (such as in the gut wall) serotonin regulates vascular tone.