Neurotransmitter Actions in the Vertebrate Nervous System

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Humans and other vertebrates have developed two main systems for coordinating and synchronizing the functions of their millions of individual cells, the nervous system and the endocrine system. The nervous system works rapidly by transmitting electrochemical impulses. The means of transmission are highly specialized cells known as neurons, which are the functional unit of the nervous system. The electrical impulse moving through a neuron begins in the dendrites. From there, it passes through the cell body and then travels along the axon. The impulse always follows the same path from dendrite to cell body to axon. When the electrical impulse reaches the synapse at the end of the axon, it causes the release of specialized chemicals known as neurotransmitters. These neurotransmitters carry the signal across the synapse to the dendrites of the next neuron, starting the process again in the next cell. This volume describes and illustrates a variety of these neurotransmitters.