this post was submitted on 05 Aug 2025
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I didn't know hormones and neurotransmitters overlapped like that; I always separated them in my head. TIL.
Why do I frequently see the neurotransmitters narrowed down to dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin? Are they the most important ones?
That's a surprising statement to me. Honestly, those aren't even the most important. Glutamate is the most common neurotransmitter in the brain. But dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin are responsible for some very "classic" bodily functions like reward, adrenaline, and sleep.
Now, hormones are typically separate from the brain - there's a barrier between neurons and your circulating blood maintained by astrocytes. This is the so-called blood-brain barrier. I do not know if there are examples of Oxytocin and Epinephrine crossing the BBB, as I did not study it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood%E2%80%93brain_barrier?wprov=sfla1
I'm not sure where I mislearned that then.
War crimes keep my brain healthy?
Ducking autocorrect strikes again. Astrocytes
Although I've never thought much about it I would think that neuropeptides that are produced in the brain would likely have local activity. Orexin is an endogenous neuropeptide that can be administered in an inhaled form with a very potent effect. I listened to a talk on it once and apparently you can be going on 20+ hours awake and barely able to keep your eyes open to immediately awake like you slept for 12 hours. He said that the air force uses it for B-2 pilots and other extremely long range missions.