Serotonin is the hormone what makes us happy, so why aren’t we just injecting it into our body/taking it as tablets to get out of misery on command?
In: Biology
Serotonin cannot cross the blood-brain barrier, which is a membrane that separates our central nervous system (brain, spinal cord) from our peripheral nervous system (the rest of our body including muscles, digestive system). If you took serotonin as a pill it would make you have to poop, as that is the effect of serotonin on the digestive system. People do, however take SRIs (serotonin reuptake inhibitors) or SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors). Neurons communicate by sending neurotransmitters (Serotonin is a neurotransmitter) to each other. There is a gap between each neuron called the synaptic gap. When neuron A sends neurotransmitters to neuron B, not all are taken in by neuron B and remain in the synaptic gap. Neuron A then reuptakes the neurotransmitters that are remaining in the gap. SRIs and SSRIs block neuron A from reuptaking serotonin by effectively “closing the gates”. Therefore, more serotonin can reach neuron B, and so on, as it has nowhere else to go.
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