THINKING ABOUT BIOLOGY: Depression

Depression is a mental transmitters, serotonin and between depression and

disorder that affects an esti-
mated 8 million people in
the United States alone. No
one knows positively tliat
depression has a biológica!
cause. No biochemical
abnormality has yet been
discovered.
Some researchers, h o w -
ever, are convinced that in
nnany cases neurotransmit-
ters are at fault. Generally,
a neurotransmitter is either
destroyed by an enzyme or
reabsorbed by neurons
almost immediately after it
entera the synaptic cleft.
Reserpine, a drug used
by patients with high blood
pressure, causes t w o neuro-
norepinphrine, to leak into
the synaptic cleft. These
neurotransmitters are in
the part of the brain that
Controls emotions. Within
a f e w days after reserpine
enters a person's body,
most of the serotonin and
norepinephrine in that part
of the brain is destroyed.
Patients then often
become depressed. As a
result, researchers have
concluded that a lack of
serotonin and norepi-
nephrine in the brain is
related to depression.
Drugs n o w used to
combat depression aiso
indícate a possible link
neurotransnnitters. One
type of drug prevents the
reabsorption of serotonin
and norepinephrine by
neurons. The drug thus
causes a buildup of sero-
t o n i n and norepinephrine
in the synaptic cleft. As
a result of this buildup,
impulses can be generated
in the normal manner. It
seems that when an abnor-
mally lo w level of neuro-
transmitters is brought to a
normal level, depression
is no longer a p r o b l e m .
• Predicting Conclusions
What m i g h t be the effect
of an abnormally high
level of neurotransmitters?

Starting a Nerve Impulse To " f i r e " a neuron—that is, to

get a nerve impulse going in the first place—a stimulus must
have a certain level of strength called a threshold. I f the energy To measure response time
leve] of a stimulus falls below the threshold, the neuron will not to different stimuli, see
ifie; i^ííwcvc'í'; «^^-itimiiU!,»; . w i t b j i n x n e ^ v level^reater than the page 739.
threshold does not cause a faster or stronger impulse. The neu-
ron either fires or it doesn't, a phenomenon known as the ail-or-
none response. The intensky oía sensaúon depends on the num-
ber of neurons stimulated. After an impulse, the neuron must
rest for about one-hundredth of a second. A stimulus, no matter
how strong, cannot fire the neuron during this time.

Section Review
1. Comparing Ideas Compare dendrites and axons.
2. Summarizing Ideas Explain how depolarization occurs.
3. Analyzing Function How do neurotransmitters function?
4. Evaluating Ideas What is an adaptive advantage of <^Thinking C r i t i c a l l y
the all-or-none response?

Nervous Control and Coordination 731