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SEROTONIN RECEPTORS:
There are many different types of receptors that can handle serotonin, also known as 5-hydroxytryptamine (7). Serotonin has a huge impact on the overall mood of a person, and one change in serotonin levels has the capacity to influence many other chemicals in the brain, forming a "ripple effect" (7). These receptors are made of ion channels, and when serotonin travels through, it acts as a "key" into the "lock" receptor, allowing for it to affect the mood and anxiety levels of a person. An ion channel allows for the conversion of chemical signals to electrical ones. Since ions are charged atoms, they often temporarily change the charge of the membranes in the channel (2).
GABA RECEPTORS:
There are two types of of the GABA receptors that help it to be effective in the brain: GABA A and GABA B. When GABA is released by neurons that fire the neurotransmitter, the GABA A receptors allow ions to flow across nerve membranes, while the GABA B receptors use "linking substances" in order to follow and attach. When GABA attaches to the receptor, feelings of decreased anxiety occur as a result of lower neural activity. This receptor also uses an ion channel and performs similarly to the serotonin receptor (11).
There are many different types of receptors that can handle serotonin, also known as 5-hydroxytryptamine (7). Serotonin has a huge impact on the overall mood of a person, and one change in serotonin levels has the capacity to influence many other chemicals in the brain, forming a "ripple effect" (7). These receptors are made of ion channels, and when serotonin travels through, it acts as a "key" into the "lock" receptor, allowing for it to affect the mood and anxiety levels of a person. An ion channel allows for the conversion of chemical signals to electrical ones. Since ions are charged atoms, they often temporarily change the charge of the membranes in the channel (2).
GABA RECEPTORS:
There are two types of of the GABA receptors that help it to be effective in the brain: GABA A and GABA B. When GABA is released by neurons that fire the neurotransmitter, the GABA A receptors allow ions to flow across nerve membranes, while the GABA B receptors use "linking substances" in order to follow and attach. When GABA attaches to the receptor, feelings of decreased anxiety occur as a result of lower neural activity. This receptor also uses an ion channel and performs similarly to the serotonin receptor (11).
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Benzodiazepines, the pink substance in the model above, are a class of anti-anxiety medications that increase GABA production by binding to the GABA receptor (9). Although there are variations to these types of medications, the standard benzodiazepine molecular formula is C9H8N2 (9). The larger blue spheres represent nitrogen, the gray represents carbon, and the smaller light blue show hydrogen. Its molecular weight is 144.17322 g/mol (9). In some places, such as between some carbon and nitrogen and between two carbons, there is a double bond. Double bonds occur in order to balance the number of electrons in the molecule, and ensures that each atom has a total of eight electrons. Double bonds signify that the atoms share two pairs of electrons.
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Part of the reason that small amounts of alcohol and GABA affect the brain in a similar way is because they both bond to the same GABA receptors. Alcohol essentially mimics the way that GABA affects the brain. The chemical formula for ethyl alcohol, or ethanol, is C2H6O, and the molecular weight is 46.06844 g/mol (13). You will notice here that there are only single bonds between the hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen. This signifies that each bond only needs to share one pair of electrons in order to fulfill the eight electrons required. However, in the case of hydrogen, each atom only needs two electrons total in order to be able to bond. Ethanol is a solvent, and is polar, because the bond between O-H is polar and can form hydrogen bonds with water molecules.