I decided to watch another video on how a nerve impulse goes through the neuron. It was still a little hazy to me and i wanted to make sure i got a good grasp on the whole concept. The parts that i wasn't quite sure about were depolarization and repolarization. Depolarization is when the sodium gates open and the insides becomes positive, buttt the electrical change only happens in small portions of the axon at a time! One thing that i either didn't know or forgot was that depolarization can not occur in the areas where they have the cell, which is a little bit confusing... So once depolarization happens, then in the same section of the cell repolarization occurs making the cell once again negative. After the message has been traveling for a bit it reaches what is call threshold and that means it can't go back, the message has to be sent!!
Soo linking this to the outside world... lets look at someone who has depression.
In between two neurons is a space called the synapse. The main neurotransmitter that is sent through the synapse is serotonin. (a neurotransmitter is an electrical current, what was being sent through the neuron in the previous paragraph) (Also a another side note, serotonin is known to effect moods). People with Depression have LOW levels of serotonin. So to treat depression you could use a type of drug called an SSI (the medication lexapro, which i researched is an SSI) SSI's are pretty much antagonists, where they block the reabsorption of serotonin. Sense the serotonin can't be reabsorbed it keeps getting sent to the other neuron, thus increasing the amount of serotonin in the brain. An increased amount of serotonin means depression should lessen!!
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