All in the Families
So Many Receptors...
Fun with Functions
Amazing Agonists and Antagonists
Where did I come from?
100
A swinging single, this neurotransmitter was the first to be discovered.
What is acetylcholine?
100
The nicotinic receptor is this type of receptor, leading to a fast change in voltage of the post-synaptic cell.
What is an ionotropic receptor?
100
This is the name of the body's response that occurs from activation of the sympathetic nervous system, involving release of noradrenaline and adrenaline in the body.
What is the fight or flight response?
100
A substance that causes the transporters for dopamine and noradrenaline to run in reverse.
What is amphetamine?
100
This is the enzyme responsible for combining acetate and choline to produce acetylcholine.
What is choline acetyltransferase?
200

This family of 3 neurotransmitters is created from the same amino acid, tyrosine.

What are the catecholamines?

200
All of the dopamine receptors are this type of receptor, producing a slower change in the post-synaptic cell.
What is a metabotropic receptor?
200
This is the effect of acetylcholine in the body, when it is released at special synapses located on skeletal muscle tissue.
What is muscle contraction?
200
This substance, found in a type of mushroom, gives its name to the acetylcholine receptors that it binds to as an agonist.
What is muscarine?
200
This is the amino acid from which serotonin is made.
What is tryptophan?
300
These two members of the indolamine family regulate how sleepy or alert you're feeling.
What are serotonin and histamine?
300
These are the two types of receptors for the neurotransmitter GABA.
What are the A and B GABA receptors?
300
This is one of the effects of the opioid peptides, and the reason why doctors prescribe opiates like morphine.
What is analgesia (pain relief)?
300
As a blocker for the reuptake transporters for this neurotransmitter system, Prozac and similar drugs are used as antidepressants.
What is serotonin?
300
GABA is made from this amino acid transmitter.
What is glutamate?
400
Glutamate and glycine are both examples of this family of neurotransmitters.
What are the amino acids?
400

This specific type of receptor for noradrenaline produces an inhibitory effect (an IPSP) on the post-synaptic cell.

What is the alpha 2 noradrenergic receptor?

400
The feeling that many people think dopamine is responsible for, but other neurotransmitters like opioids and endocannabinoids are also important for.
What is reward?
400
This substance is rapidly changed into dopamine in neurons, and is used as a treatment for people with Parkinson's disease.
What is L-DOPA?
400
This is the rate-limiting enzyme for making the catecholamine neurotransmitters.
What is tyrosine hydroxylase?
500
Enkephalins, endorphins, and dynorphins are members of this family of neuropeptides.
What are the opioids?
500
These are the conditions that must be met for an NMDA receptor to open, allowing the passage of Na+, K+, and Ca2+ ions through.
What are binding of a ligand (glutamate) to the receptor and depolarization of the membrane?
500
A state of arousal that serotonin seems to promote, and noradrenaline seems to inhibit.
What is sleepiness?
500
These anxiety-reducing drugs, like Valium, have their own binding site on the GABA-A receptor
What are benzodiazepines?
500
This is the specific site in the neuron where noradrenaline is made.
What is the synaptic vesicle?
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