Home > Encyclopedia of Neurological Disorders > Neurotransmitters

Definition

Neurotransmitters are chemicals that allow the movement of information from one neuron across the gap between it and the adjacent neuron. The release of neurotransmitters from one area of a neuron and the recognition of the chemicals by a receptor site on the adjacent neuron causes an electrical reaction that facilitates the release of the neurotransmitter and its movement across the gap.

Description

The transmission of information from one neuron to another depends on the ability of the information to traverse the gap (also known as the synapse) between the terminal end of one neuron and the receptor end of an adjacent neuron. The transfer is accomplished by neurotransmitters.

In 1921, an Austrian scientist named Otto Loewi discovered the first neurotransmitter. He named the compound "vagusstoff," as he was experimenting with the vagus nerve of frog hearts. Now, this compound is known as...