137,147 Further, 5-HT dysfunction due to certain genetic variations in SERT and 5-HT receptor sequences is now detectable by functional neuroimaging.87,150-150 Although not quite completely understood,

these recent data from living human brain imaging support and often greatly extend, previous data obtained by conventional postmortem investigations. Serotonergic circuitries in function Serotonergic circuitries chiefly include 5-HT-producing neurons, 5-HT-autoreceptors (ie, somatodendritic 5HT1 A receptors, 5-HT1B/1D receptors in terminal endings) #DMXAA keyword# and other neurotransmitter or hormone receptors including alpha-adrenoceptors, CRF receptors, tachykinin receptors, estrogen receptor beta and more recently demonstrated, oxytocin receptors151

involved in neuronal firing and 5-HT release. Functionally connected neuronal Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical elements bearing 5-HT-heteroreceptors (often called postsynaptic or perisynaptic receptors, see below) are obviously another major component of the serotonergic neurotransmission.100,152,153 Additionally, classical neurotransmitters (eg, GABA, glutamate, dopamine, noradrenaline), peptidergic neuromodulators (eg, substance P), and Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical endocannabinoid coexpression within 5-HT neurons also contribute to the serotonergic function.154,155 Considering that in several Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical brain areas, including the neocortex

and the hippocampus, 5-HT wired neurotransmission (WT) via true synapses coexists with volume transmission (VT), the terms pre- and postsynaptic should be used with caution. Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical In fact, distances between release sites and receptors are not of the same magnitude, generally a few nm for WT vs up to 10 µm for VT. Thus, some authors consider that neuropsychoactive drugs act rather as volume transmission signals.156 Due to ethical and methodological limitations, our knowledge on neurotransmitter circuitries and their interconnections in human CNS largely benefits from that described with much detail in nonhuman primates and other species including cat and rodents. In laboratory animal species, the anatomical distribution of brain 5-HT neurons was often completed by other approaches such as transneuronal over retrograde transport, selective lesions, microdialysis, electrophysiology associated with pharmacological manipulations, and more recently developed wireless fast-scan cyclic voltametry, a promising tool for the in vivo monitoring of 5-HT in the brain.157 Therefore, the circuitries of serotonergic neurons in the human brain are mainly based on those known in other mammals.