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Glutamate: The Master Neurotransmitter and Its Implications in Chronic Stress and Mood Disorders

Until recently, glutamate has often been mentioned only as a sidenote to the more well-known neurotransmitters such as serotonin and norepinephrine. Like the shy kid who suddenly became visible with a new haircut, glutamate has taken the neuroscience literature by storm...

Another reason to get glutamate into the public eye is that with minimal knowledge of its mechanisms, there are many natural ways the lay public can boost their overall health and wellbeing. Physical exercise and mindfulness exercises have both been demonstrated to be powerful modulators of non-pharmaceutical glutamate and GABA interventions.

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 Balancing Your Glutamate Neurotransmitter Level Naturally

Glutamate is one of the most recently discovered neurotransmitters and there is still much we don’t know about it. But one of the most intriguing discoveries is that glutamate acts as both an essential neurotransmitter and a dangerous neurotoxin.

 Brain drain: scientists look at why mental exertion triggers exhaustion

Now, researchers suggest cognitive control may lead to the accumulation of glutamate in the brain – of which high levels can be harmful because it overexcites neural cells. “We found that glutamate was accumulating in the region of the brain which controls the tasks we set participants,” said Wiehler. “Our understanding is that the brain has some kind of clearance mechanism to counteract this, which may slow down activity.”

Articles of Interest

The Glutamatergic Synapse

In the mammalian central nervous system (CNS), glutamate is the predominant excitatory neurotransmitter. It is estimated that more than half of all synapses release glutamate and that almost all excitatory neurons in the CNS are glutamatergic.

About Glutamate Toxicity

Scientists have discovered that NMDA receptors in cells of people with HD are overactivated by glutamate. Researchers believe that this overactivation is due to the impairments in energy metabolism caused by the altered huntingtin gene of people with HD.

Glutamate as a neurotransmitter in the healthy brain

Glutamate is the most abundant free amino acid in the brain and is at the crossroad between multiple metabolic pathways. Considering this, it was a surprise to discover that glutamate has excitatory effects on nerve cells, and that it can excite cells to their death in a process now referred to as “excitotoxicity”. This effect is due to glutamate receptors present on the surface of brain cells.

Glutamate Receptors

Since glutamate is the predominant excitatory neurotransmitter in the nervous system, mutations that affect glutamate receptors are associated with a number of serious neurological diseases, including epilepsy.

Overview of the Glutamatergic System

Glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the nervous system. Glutamate pathways are linked to many other neurotransmitter pathways, and glutamate receptors are found throughout the brain and spinal cord in neurons and glia. As an amino acid and neurotransmitter, glutamate has a large array of normal physiological functions. Consequently, glutamate dysfunction has profound effects both in disease and injury.

Targeting the Glutamatergic System to Treat Major Depressive Disorder

Because existing pharmacological treatments for MDD are often insufficient for many patients, the next generation of treatments needs to be more effective, rapid acting and better tolerated than currently available medications. There is extant evidence that the glutamatergic system holds considerable promise for developing the next generation of novel and mechanistically distinct agents for the treatment of MDD.

The Role of Glutamate in the Healthy Brain and in the Pathophysiology of Parkinson’s Disease

The glutamatergic system, the topic of this review, is one promising area for the development of new pharmacotherapies in PD. Through actions on the glutamate system, new pharmacotherapies have the potential to improve cognition, mood and pain, as well as motor symptoms.

What is Glutamate?

Glutamate is the most abundant neurotransmitter in our brain and central nervous system (CNS). It is involved in virtually every major excitatory brain function. While excitatory has a very specific meaning in neuroscience, in general terms, an excitatory neurotransmitter increases the likelihood that the neuron it acts upon will have an action potential (also called a nerve impulse).

Resources

8 Important Roles of Glutamate + Is It Bad in Excess?

MSG, also known as “Chinese salt,” is a vilified form of glutamate. Does that mean all glutamate is bad? Not at all. Glutamate is an amino acid that plays important roles in the body. It is one of the most important neurotransmitters we have and it also affects the gut and immune system.