Describe the impact of neuronal and neurotransmitter abnormalities on Essay

Describe the impact of neuronal and neurotransmitter abnormalities on brain function - Essay Example All of them are associated with decreasing patients’ intellectual abilities and certain physical abnormalities that affect significantly normal human activities (Deb S., McHugh R, 2010). Neurons are special nerve cells in human organism, which are able to transfer the information from one cell to another within the whole human body, and in such way support normal human activities and provide adequate reactions for all outside and inside irritants. According to Stufflebeam, â€Å"neurons  are the basic information processing structures in the CNS† (Stufflebeam, 2008).   Neurons are joined in some kind of network with neuroglial cells that support and protect them providing all the conditions for transmitting electric impulses and special chemicals called transmitters. â€Å"Every information processing  system  in the CNS is composed of neurons and glia; so too are the  networks  that compose the systems (and the maps)†¦   Glia  (or  glial cells) are the cells that provide support to the neurons.  Ã¢â‚¬  (Stufflebeam, 2008).   There is a huge amount of different categories of neurons, which are quite diverse within their structure. Usually, the types of neuron cells are classified in the following way (Stufflebeam): sensory neurons  serve for transmission of the information from sensory receptors to CNS by means nerve impulses though their long axons. Motor neurons  are also equipped with comparably long axons and convey nerve impulses from CNS to muscles and glands in human body. Interneurons  are also known as relay or connector neurons and commonly have cells of smaller size with a lot of interconnections to transfer information among different types of neurons. Neurotransmission process The main function of neuron cells is to receive the needful information from other neurons and to send it further through the whole human body. The process of information transferring is quite sophisticated and even nowadays th ere exist a lot of disagreements concerning its certain features. â€Å"Neurotransmission  (or  synaptic transmission) is communication between neurons as accomplished by the movement of chemicals or electrical signals across a synapse† (Stufflebeam, 2008).   There are two main stages in neuronal information transmitting (Stufflebeam): intracellular signaling represents communication between neurons through the instrumentality of special chemical mediums called neurotransmitters. intercellular signaling means that information is transmitted inside one neuronal cell in a form of electric impulses, which speed could reach 150 m/s. These impulses are called action potentials and are transferred through neurons’ axons. Further, they are transformed into transmitters at chemical synapses. According to Stufflebeam, â€Å"for any interneuron, its function is to receive INPUT "information"  from other neurons through synapses, to process that information, then to send "information" as OUTPUT to other neurons through synapses† (Stufflebeam, 2008). Brain abnormalities Peter and Singer (2006) state that most of the brain’s cognitive functions are founded on the synchronized communications of many neurons, which leads to the obvious conclusion that even tiny deviations in normal neurons functioning could cause quite serious