Neurons

     Neurons
Neurons, an essential part of the body, without neurons we wouldn't be able to feel or react to anything around us. Besides going through the boring 7th grade science class material, let's really get deep into the science behind neurons.
      The Art of the Neurotransmitter
 Neurotransmitters are like the messengers in our body. They allow messages from the brain to be relayed to the rest of the body. These messages are sent as electrical impulses through a network of neurons. How do you think you know how to behave or how to flinch when something is coming flying at your face? Yes, the brain automatically responds, but what if the message was never received? That would be a problem. These neurotransmitters also carry different chemicals throughout your body to change your behavior. These are some of the chemicals that are sent throughout your body.
Serotonin- Serotonin is a chemical that is sent from the brain to control mood, appetite, and sleep. Depression can be cause by low serotonin levels. Medication prescribed to patients with low serotonin levels act by blocking the serotonin from the sending neuron and thus, more serotonin stays in the synapse of the receiving neuron.
Dopamine- Dopamine helps control movement and adding the flow information to the front of the brain and is linked to thought processes and emotion. Too much or too little dopamine in the brain might be associated with ADHD or schizophrenia.
Glutamate- Glutamate is one of the most common neurotransmitters. Glutamate plays an important role in early brain development and helps with learning and memory.
    What may cause a dysfunction in the neurotransmitter pathways?
Many factors are in place when it comes to relaying messages from the brain to the rest of the body. The speed has to be just right, the tiny gap between the neurons have to be just right, and the neuron has to be in perfect functioning condition. if any of these things are a tiny bit off then something could go terribly wrong. You might be asking yourself at this point, then why aren't I twitching like a defective toy on my floor? That is because neurons continue to grow and make more connections with other neurons. These connections are the reason the the neurons in our body haven't died yet. As we grow older, many of our neurons start to die off, and the age of 75 you will have approximately, one tenth the number of neurons you had as a kid. Don't freak, but when you are born you have more neurons that you can possibly need. plus, the neurons you already have grow and form new connections. These connections make up for the neurons you lost. An additional bonus is the glial cell. This is a type of brain cell that divides to form new cells in order to increase the efficiency of your living neurons and provide a framework to help support them. Feel better now? Although your body is doing a lot to help make sure these neurons are kept safe, there are diseases that specifically target the neurons.
Have you ever heard of Motor Neuron Disease or ALS? If you haven't heard of that you must have heard about the Ice Bucket Challenge. If you haven't heard about either one of these things then you are about to! Motor Neuron Disease or ALS is a disease that specifically targets the nervous system. Guess what it does. If you know that motor neurons are what control your movements then you would know that ALS effects your movement and weakens your muscles. This is actually a really rare disease, less than 20,000 U.S. cases per year.  It is a progressive neurodegenerative disease, this means that it cause your motor neurons to die off. You have to remember that a neuron can't grow back like a regular cell, once it is gone, it is gone forever. However, there are some neurons that have the ability to grow back, but if you have ALS that is not the case. ALS causes you to struggle with many voluntary daily actions. Like reaching for the phone or shaking somebody's hand. ALS was discovered in 1869 by a French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot. However, it officially brought national and international attention about the disease by Lou Gehrig in 1939. Many possible causes of ALS could accumulate from Genetic mutation, a chemical imbalance in glutamate, or a disorganized immune system. The immune system can begin to start attacking the body's neurons or the chemical imbalance of glutamate can kill off neurons. If you have a loved one that has ALS, I am really feeling for you! ALS is serious and I hope all of you readers out there learn and spread the word about ALS.