Brain Chemicals That Make Us Happy Or Sad

Abstract

Every day, you experience many kinds of emotions that affect the way you think and act. However, you probably never stop to think about why you feel this way: teeny-tiny chemicals are responsible. These chemicals, called neurotransmitters, can control your mood and activity. Your body is made up of many small parts called cells and, using dozens of types of chemical signals called neurotransmitters, cells communicate with each other. It is as if the cells are “passing notes” around, sending messages back and forth from the brain to the rest of the body. Learning more about the neurotransmitters flowing throughout the body and how they work in cell communication can help us understand more about how our emotions work and it can also help scientists create medications for people with certain mental health conditions. In this article, we discuss three major neurotransmitters and the emotions they cause.