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One thing I've noticed in the focus on dopamine and its effects on cognition and emotion is the relatively scant attention given to other neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine and acetylcholine (although a couple of people talked about acetylcholine), which appear to play key roles as well, particularly in regulating attention, vigilance and intuition.
"It is now known that both dopamine and norepinephrine have essential actions on prefrontal cortical function, and help coordinate cognitive state with arousal state."
Arnsten AF, Wang MJ, Paspalas CD. (2012). "Neuromodulation of thought: flexibilities and vulnerabilities in prefrontal cortical network synapses." Neuron76 (1): 223–39.
Some of the SSRI class of antidepressants target both serotonin (rather, they inhibit its reuptake) and norepinephrine, and are therefore more effective for many people than the original SSRIs or the older tricyclic antidepressants. If some people are wondering what treatment of the depressed has to do with education, suffice it to say that almost all of us experience depressed moods, and the main thing that separates us from the clinically depressed is the duration and severity of symptoms.
There's one more thing about the role of neurotransmitters that I thought might be worth noting. Psychiatrists treat schizophrenics with neuroleptic tranquilizers that suppress dopamine's receptors. Does this raise questions about whether geniuses, who are often if not usually quite eccentric, might have been fortunate to have never visited psychiatrists?
The medical profession often treats people with drugs that are very blunt instruments, and unfortunately, there are not yet any better options for treating people suffering from severe delusions and hallucinations. As educators, we know that these neurotransmitters are endogenously produced; hopefully we can provide a learning environment that facilitates self-discovery and that provides sufficient "aha" moments to boost them to levels and in the right balance to maximize learning.
"It is now known that both dopamine and norepinephrine have essential actions on prefrontal cortical function, and help coordinate cognitive state with arousal state."
Arnsten AF, Wang MJ, Paspalas CD. (2012). "Neuromodulation of thought: flexibilities and vulnerabilities in prefrontal cortical network synapses." Neuron76 (1): 223–39.
Some of the SSRI class of antidepressants target both serotonin (rather, they inhibit its reuptake) and norepinephrine, and are therefore more effective for many people than the original SSRIs or the older tricyclic antidepressants. If some people are wondering what treatment of the depressed has to do with education, suffice it to say that almost all of us experience depressed moods, and the main thing that separates us from the clinically depressed is the duration and severity of symptoms.
There's one more thing about the role of neurotransmitters that I thought might be worth noting. Psychiatrists treat schizophrenics with neuroleptic tranquilizers that suppress dopamine's receptors. Does this raise questions about whether geniuses, who are often if not usually quite eccentric, might have been fortunate to have never visited psychiatrists?
The medical profession often treats people with drugs that are very blunt instruments, and unfortunately, there are not yet any better options for treating people suffering from severe delusions and hallucinations. As educators, we know that these neurotransmitters are endogenously produced; hopefully we can provide a learning environment that facilitates self-discovery and that provides sufficient "aha" moments to boost them to levels and in the right balance to maximize learning.
Last edited by GaryHenscheid on Wed Jul 23, 2014 3:58 pm; edited 3 times in total (Reason for editing : I (Gary) replaced "target" with inhibit in third paragraph for clarity and deleted an incomplete sentence that I failed to notice in the first edit.)
