Serotonin

Serotonin is one of several chemical messengers in the brain, or neurotransmitters, which help brain cells communicate with one another. Among many other functions, serotonin is involved in regulating mood. Problems with making or using the right amount of serotonin have been linked to many mental disorders, including depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, autism, and schizophrenia.

What is Serotonin?

Serotonin is an example of a neurotransmitter, a chemical messenger that is passed between nerve cells. When a nerve impulse reaches the axon at the end of a nerve, neurotransmitters are released which cross an area called the synapse to be received by a specific receptor on the end of a target nerve. Once received by the target nerve, the neurotransmitter may either excite that nerve to fire its own signal or prevent it from firing the signal.

Serotonin Function

Serotonin Biosynthesis

Drugs Targeting the 5-HT System

Serotonin Pathology

Serotonin in Plants

The Relationship Between Serotonin and 5-HTP

Do Serotonin and Antidepressants Affect the Microbiome?

Serotonin and Aggression

Latest Serotonin News and Research

Music therapy proves effective in treating depression for ADHD in children and adolescents

How music therapy can improve the treatment of depression in children with Attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

30 Mar 2023

Anxiety attack or panic attack: Both may have come from the brain

An attack can come crashing in like a storm on a clear spring day. In an instant, your heart pounds, sweat soaks you and you struggle to breathe.

29 Mar 2023

Maternal weight gain in pregnancy linked to children's risk of neurodevelopmental disorders

In a recent study published in the BMC Medicine journal, researchers in Sweden explored the association between above-optimal maternal gestational weight gain (GWG) and the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders such as intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in offspring.

29 Mar 2023

Blood biomarkers could be used to predict a person's likelihood of developing PTSD

A new study found that people who are currently suffering or face a high risk of post-traumatic stress disorder show particular patterns in four biomarkers measurable with a simple blood test.

28 Mar 2023

What is the effect of maternal obesity on the brain development of offspring?

Recently, scientists reviewed the mechanisms associated with the maternal microbiome, breast milk composition, maternal and placental metabolites, altered maternal care, and inflammation, which influences the brain development of the offspring.

22 Mar 2023

Music-listening interventions can make medications more effective

While listening to a favorite song is a known mood booster, researchers at Michigan State University have discovered that music-listening interventions also can make medicines more effective.

21 Mar 2023

Investigating how gut microbiota affect neuroplasticity and neurodevelopment

In a recent study published in the journal Neuropharmacology, researchers in Pisa, Italy, explored how gut microbiota can influence neuroplasticity.

20 Mar 2023

Chemists reveal a whole new role for molecular mirroring

With the aid of some sea slugs, University of Nebraska–Lincoln chemists have discovered that one of the smallest conceivable tweaks to a biomolecule can elicit one of the grandest conceivable consequences: directing the activation of neurons.

15 Mar 2023

Study identifies link between oral and gut microbiomes and depression

Researchers investigate the role of the oral-gut-brain axis in anxiety and depression.

14 Mar 2023

Hyperinflammation triggers long COVID headaches

Researchers characterize the immunological and metabolic alterations involved in chronic headache onset during post-acute sequelae of COVID-19.

13 Mar 2023

A review on two novel eating disorders

Researchers review existing data on avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) and atypical-type anorexia nervosa (AN).

13 Mar 2023

Seniors with anxiety frequently don’t get help. Here’s why.

Anxiety is the most common psychological disorder affecting adults in the U.S. In older people, it's associated with considerable distress as well as ill health, diminished quality of life, and elevated rates of disability.

10 Mar 2023

How gut microbiota control feelings of fullness after eating

A recent study discusses recent findings linking satiety to the gut microbiome.

7 Mar 2023

Researchers synthesize fluorescent molecularly imprinted polymeric nanoparticles to detect neurotransmitters

The animal brain consists of tens of billions of neurons or nerve cells that perform complex tasks like processing emotions, learning, and making judgments by communicating with each other via neurotransmitters.

3 Mar 2023

Mechanistic insight into how receptor location is the key for psychedelic drug effects

Location, location, location is the key for psychedelic drugs that could treat mental illness by rapidly rebuilding connections between nerve cells.

17 Feb 2023

Electrochemical microsensor enables real-time study of serotonin dynamics in the brain

Dysregulation of serotonin plays a role in many psychiatric disorders, including severe depression and anxiety. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, a research team has now introduced an implantable, electrochemical microsensor that makes it possible to study serotonin dynamics in the brain in real time.

16 Feb 2023