philosophers seem to have stumbled upon a rudimentary
description of our two most fundamental neurotransmitters
thousands of years prior to the invention of the scientific
method!
GABA is the chief inhibitory neurotransmitter in the
brain, used in 30 to 40 percent of synapses brain-wide.
Associated with a calming effect that has been dubbed
“nature’s Valium,” it works to counter-balance glutamate,
the brain’s chief excitatory neurotransmitter—the yang to
GABA’s yin. GABA and glutamate make up the brain’s
most plentiful neurotransmitters and are involved in the
regulation of vigilance, anxiety, muscle tension, and
memory functions.^1
Glutamate
Used by more than half of all neurons, glutamate is
GABA’s precursor and increases the brain’s overall level of
excitation. Glutamate is normally involved in learning,
memory, and synaptogenesis (the creation of new
connections between neurons).^2 We’ve already covered a
few of biology’s most famous double-edged swords—
oxygen, insulin, and glucose—and glutamate is no different.
Too much can cause excitotoxicity, harming nerve cells.
Dysfunction of the complex mechanisms that govern
glutamate release has been observed in Alzheimer’s disease
and is a destructive factor in ALS, a rapidly progressive
neurological disease that attacks the neurons responsible for
controlling voluntary movement. (One of the two major
classes of drugs used to treat dementia reduces glutamate-