Question: what is seratonin?

Rachael Ward answered on 16 Jun 2011:

Hi fatlouie21

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter. Then whats a neurotransmitter? Neurotransmitters are the chemicals in neurons that are used to pass signals from one neuron to another. Different neurotransmitters are involved with different neurons, different parts of the brain and so different functions of our brain and bodies.

Serotonin is involved in a lot of different things. These include our appetite, our sleep cycle and our emotions and moods. We now know that serotonin is somehow disrupted in people with depression and anxiety so I am trying to learn more about how it works and is controlled so we can design better drugs to treat these problems.

I hope this answers your question, please let me know if you have more