What we feel and think depends on neural connections

A lot is known about the brain, but far from everything. There are many controversies and
unanswered questions. Nobel Laureate Dr. Gerald Edelman, director of the Neurosciences
Institute says: The brain is the most complicated material object in the known universe. If you
attempted to count the number of connections, one per second, in the mantle of our brain (the
cerebral cortex), you would finish counting 32 million years later. But that is not the whole
story. The way the brain is connected - its neuroanatomical pattern - is enormously intricate.
Within this anatomy a remarkable set of dynamic events take place in hundredths of a second and
the number oflevels controlling these events, from molecules
to behavior, is quite large.
Weighing only three pounds, the brain is composed of at least 100 billion nerve cells or neurons.
It also contains tens of billions of other cells called glial cells supporting neurons. Neurons are
connected to other neurons and interact. Each neuron has a cell body with tiny branches called
dendrites that receive information from other neurons. Extending from the cell body is long fibers
called axons that send information to other neurons.
Since it is the connections between neurons that cause our mental capacities, it is not the number
of cells that is important but the number of potential connections between them.

How do neurons connect and communicate?

Every neuron can connect with other neurons at contact points, the space between one neuron
and another, called synapses. When a neuron fire an electrical impulse down the axon, the impulse
is released as a chemical substancecalled a neurotransmitter. When this chemical reaches the
dendrite of another neuron it triggers an electrical impulse. Thereafter a series of chemical
reactions begins. Some stimulation must happen for the neuron to fire. The strength of this firing
and what kind of neurotransmitter is released depends on the incoming stimuli.
How does the neurotransmitter cause the electrical impulse? On the surface of the receiving
neuron are proteins called receptors and every receptor is tailormade for a specific chemical. The
chemical acts as a key, and the receptor, or the lock, only "lets in" the right chemical.

Why does it fiel good when our loved ones give us a kiss or a compliment?
It is the neurotransmitter dopamine that is being released. Dopamine is involved in the brain's
reward and motivation system, and in addiction. High levels of dopamine are believed to increase
feelings of pleasure and relieve pain.
Another neurotransmitter is serotonin. Serotonin is linked with mood and emotion. Too much
stress can lead to low levels of serotonin and low levels are associated with anxiety and depression.
What happens when we take an antidepressant drug? The drug increases the amount of serotonin
in our brain. The drug mimics the structure of serotonin. Antidepressants don't make us happy;
they just treat the state of unhappiness. Observe that even if neurotransmitters and the drugs that
affect them alter our mental functions, they are part of a complicated system of interactions
between molecules, cells, synapses, and other systems, including life experiences and
environmental factors.
So far we know that the brain is a chemical system, and that neurons communicate with each other
through the release of neurotransmitters (chemicals that carry messages between neurons). What
we think and feel depends on chemical reactions. And these chemical reactions are a function of
how our neurons connect.
What determines how these neurons connect and their patterns? Our genes and life experiences,
situational or environmental conditions, and a degree of randomness.