News tagged with acetylcholine

Plant-derived scavengers prowl the body for nerve toxins

The brain is forever chattering to itself, via electrical impulses sent along its hard-wired neuronal "Ethernet." These e-messages are translated into chemical transmissions, allowing communication across ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Nov 23, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Light now in sight: Control of a 'blind' neuroreceptor with an optical switch

When nerve cells communicate with one another, specialized receptor molecules on their surfaces play a central role in relaying signals between them. A collaborative venture involving teams of chemists based at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Jan 10, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Alzheimer's drug boosts perceptual learning in healthy adults

Research on a drug commonly prescribed to Alzheimer's disease patients is helping neuroscientists at the University of California, Berkeley, better understand perceptual learning in healthy adults.

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Sep 16, 2010 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Genetically-modified mice reveal another mechanism contributing to heart failure

Scientists at the Robarts Research Institute at The University of Western Ontario, working in collaboration with researchers in Brazil, have used a unique genetically-modified mouse line to reveal a previously unidentified ...

Medicine & Health / Medical research

created Feb 01, 2010 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Scientists discover brain's inherent ability to focus learning

Medical researchers have found a missing link that explains the interaction between brain state and the neural triggers responsible for learning, potentially opening up new ways of boosting cognitive function ...

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Dec 08, 2010 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (7) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New biosensors reveal workings of anti-psychotic drugs in the living brain

Scientists have resolved a question about how a popular class of drugs used to treat schizophrenia works using biosensors that reveal previously hidden components of chemical communication in the brain.

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Dec 13, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Nicotine may have more profound impact than previously thought

Nicotine isn't just addictive. It may also interfere with dozens of cellular interactions in the body, new Brown University research suggests.

Medicine & Health / Medical research

created Apr 03, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (7) | comments 3

Researchers find tiny genetic change keeps nicotine from binding to muscle cells

A tiny genetic mutation is the key to understanding why nicotine--which binds to brain receptors with such addictive potency--is virtually powerless in muscle cells that are studded with the same type of receptor. ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Mar 23, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Common medication associated with cognitive decline in elderly

A study published in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society suggested that the use of certain medications in elderly populations may be associated with cognitive decline. The study examined the effects of exposure to ant ...

Medicine & Health / Medications

created Jan 26, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (6) | comments 0

OSU chemist developing solution to nerve agent exposure

Scientists are working to develop a new drug that will regenerate a critical enzyme in the human body that "ages" after a person is exposed to deadly chemical warfare agents.

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Apr 05, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Smoking during pregnancy may harm the child's motor control and coordination

Women who smoke during pregnancy run the risk of adversely affecting their children’s coordination and physical control according to a new study from Orebro University, Sweden, published in the Journal of Epidemiology an ...

Medicine & Health / Health

created Sep 22, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

The mode of action of certain toxins that accumulate in seafood

Toxins released by certain microalgae can contaminate fish and shellfish which then become toxic to humans. French researchers from CNRS and CEA have, for the first time, identified the mechanisms of action ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Mar 10, 2010 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Nicotine binding to receptor linked to breast cancer cell growth

When nicotine binds to the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAchR), it is known to promote smoking addiction and may also directly promote the development of breast cancer, according to a study published online August 23 ...

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Aug 23, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Crystal clear: Eureka! moment leads to major breakthroughs in structural biology

(PhysOrg.com) -- Tuning out the noise of fellow passengers and the incessant hum of the turbojet engine, Lin Chen pored voraciously over the pages of James Watson's The Double Helix. The words and ideas flowed ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Jul 19, 2010 | popularity 4 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Promising new treatment for Alzheimer's suggested

Research carried out at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has resulted in a promising approach to help treat Alzheimer's disease in a significant proportion of the population that suffers from a particularly rapid development ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Jul 20, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Acetylcholine

The chemical compound acetylcholine (often abbreviated ACh) is a neurotransmitter in both the peripheral nervous system (PNS) and central nervous system (CNS) in many organisms including humans. Acetylcholine is one of many neurotransmitters in the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and the only neurotransmitter used in the motor division of the somatic nervous system (sensory neurons use glutamate and various peptides at their synapses). Acetylcholine is also the principal neurotransmitter in all autonomic ganglia.

Acetylcholine slows the heart rate when functioning as an inhibitory neurotransmitter. However, acetylcholine also behaves as an excitatory neurotransmitter at neuromuscular junctions.

For more information about Acetylcholine, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.