Basic concepts of psychopharmacological research as applied to the psychopharmacological analysis of the amygdala

Abstract

Since the neural impulses in the brain are transmitted from one neuron to the next by various chemical mediators such as noradrenaline, dopamine, serotonin, acetylcholine, etc., the use of drugs acting specifically on one or more of these mediators should illucidate the chemical substrates of behavior. However, recent data indicating an extensive interaction between the various neurotransmitters on a cellular and even synaptic level, suggests that interpreting the behavioral effects of drugs in term of only one neurotransmitter is a potentially misleading oversimplification. Perhaps, rather than the action of a single neurotransmitter, it is the balance between neurotransmitter systems that determines behavior. Because of its rich innervation by noradrenaline, dopamine, serotonin and acetylcholine synapses, the amygdala is ideally suited for monitoring the balance between these neurotransmitters and altering maladaptive behavior based on fluctuations in neurotransmitter balance.