Alcohol
By Aespen Alicea
What is Alchohol? (Description)
- Produced by fermentation of yeast, sugars, and starches.
- Central Nervous System depressant.
- Rapidly absorbed from stomach and small intestine into bloodstream.
Neurotransmitters affected:
- excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate
- inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA
How are they affected?:
Glutamate is an excitatory neurotransmitter that normally increases the activity of signal receiving neurons and plays a big part in controlling brain function.
Alcohol suppresses this neurotransmitter.
Source:
GRIFFITHS, R. Cysteine sulphinate (CSA) as an excitatory amino acid
transmitter candidate in the mammalian central nervous system. Progress in Neurobiology 35:313–323, 1990.