Brain Control of Body Movement: Neurotransmitters at Work

[Ali Inam]

When we move any part of our body for e.g our hands, obviously, our brain contro9ls each and every movement of our body and the processes which are involved in it.


The question is that how does the neurotransmitter get involved in such movements ? I mean, it is understood that there are different types of neurotransmitters for different purposes. But HOW DO THEY REALLY work ? !

The brain gives the impulse and the signals, but the question is after the impulse is being generated then how is the neurotransmitter making the hand move ? !


Thanks !

 

[bobze]

When we move any part of our body for e.g our hands, obviously, our brain contro9ls each and every movement of our body and the processes which are involved in it.The question is that how does the neurotransmitter get involved in such movements ? I mean, it is understood that there are different types of neurotransmitters for different purposes. But HOW DO THEY REALLY work ? !

The brain gives the impulse and the signals, but the question is after the impulse is being generated then how is the neurotransmitter making the hand move ? !Thanks !

This is a rather in depth subject to delve into from a layman's point of view. Nevertheless, Wikipedia (while I normally don't advocate it) is probably a pretty good place to start;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuromuscular_junction"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_neurons"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_cortex"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synaptic_transmission"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_potentials"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscle_contraction"

If you have more specific questions (because this is a subject that will require a lot of reading on your part) I'd be happy to help.

Edit Re: the boldfaced. The short answer is acetylcholine (ACh) is dumped out at the neuromuscular junction, which causes a depolarization in the post-synapitc cell (muscle cell in this case). This opens voltage-gated channels (specifically sodium ones) which causes a depolarization of the muscle cell. This opens other voltage gated channels (like calcium ones) and opens up calcium channels in the sacroplasmic reticulum which raise the intracellular concentration of calcium. Ca++ binds to specialized Ca binding domains in proteins (calmodulins) which change the structure of proteins. This shape change causes contraction of action/myosin bands. For a more in depth explanation read Motor neurons, NMJ then muscle contraction to answer the question.

 

[Ali Inam]

So if I want to move my hand, then the brain will activate some receptors which will take part in the movement of the hands with the help of neurotransmittrers ??