Why Thinking?

Do you ever imagine how the structure of our brain and how does it work?

This is a note that I read a daily newspaper in Indonesia (2000). Understanding how work the human brain rapidly increased. Peak recognition is granted to the three scientists who seriously learn, they are eligible to receive a Nobel Prize for the field of physiology or Medicine for this year. They are Arvid Carlsson of Sweden and the United States two experts, Paul Greengard and Eric Thick. The report will not discuss all the results of the three figures above, but more focused on the findings of Arvid Carlsson deemed meritorious in understanding the function of dopamin (dopamine) as a transmitter in the brain and how important chemical compound for the ability to move us.

The award of the Nobel Prize that year Medical is the recognition that basic research can be established and applied in the estuary practical purposes, that is the invention of modern medicines. Medicines is a answers for various diseases which have a lot of strain of the human race, such as Parkinson disease, depression, and schizophrenia.

Research conducted by Arvid Carlsson, for example, has been directing the people of Parkinson disease, which was caused by lack / absence of certain dopamin in the brain. With the This knowledge can then dikembangkanlah treatment with substitution (agonist), which is similar dopamin, the drug called L-dopa (Levo-dopa) that is quite effective. With this therapy degree dopamin someone can be. Pope John Paul II that the disease Parkinson estimated to have this therapy in addition to lowering therapy asetilkolin degree, so that the offset between dopamin.

Arvid Carlsson showed that successful in the human brain there are high degree of dopamin in the ganglia basalis, which is the area important to control muscle movement. In the patients the disease Parkinson, nerve cells in the brain that produces dopamin, fiber syarafnya stick to the ganglia basalis dead. This causes the symptoms such as tremor, muscle stiffness, and decrease the ability for someone move.

In the human brain there are a hundred billion nerve cells. They are linked one another through a complex network of nerves of the extent of not countless. Messages from one nerve cell to another nerve cell transmissions through a different chemical transmitter, which was then commonly called as neurotransmitter. Transduksi nerve signals antarsel going on in this dots is called a special contact sinaps. A nerve cell can have thousands of such contacts with the nerve cells other.

Arvid Carlsson has conducted research in the field of neurologi stub since end of the 1950s, especially on dopamin. At that time scientists dopamin still believes that only a prekursor of neurotransmitter, namely noradrenalin. Carlsson successfully break this presumption, because he found that the dopamin concentrated in the area of the brain from another place noradrenalin, and he concluded, is a transmitter dopamin which are separate from noradrenalin.

In addition to the success of treat Parkinson patients, research has been Carlsson improve our understanding of several other drugs. He successfully shows the drugs antispikotik which is widely used to treat schizophrenia patients, with the influence to block the transmission sinaptik
receptors dopamin. Carlsson findings have very important meaning for treatment depression, a psychiatric disease that most often experienced humans.

He also greatly contributed to developing medicines antidepresi generation new, namely the SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor). Drugs this group had appeared terlaris in the United States, such as Prozac (flouxetine) that in the early 1990s omzet reach 1 billion U.S. dollars, even then begin to decline in popularity because debated as "capsule personality", which make the patient as though meminumnya changes in personality. Position now tergeser by Zoloft (sertraline). Both these drugs circulating in Indonesia, can be competitive sponsor in the First National Conference on schizophrenia, while that.

dr Jan Sudir Ancient PhD, Head Neuroendokrinologi headline / Neuroimunologi Section Neurologi Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia / Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital (FKUI / RSCM) stated that the development of knowledge about neurotransmitter is extraordinary rapid. "Neurology modern and applied particularly steep neurotransmitter developed since 1980. Already known at that time an 20-type. In 1988 when I was a assistant in the Section Neurologi FK Vrije University of Amsterdam increased so 40-an, and jumped again in 1990 so 50's. Now the number is so hundreds up to eighty, "he said. As a result, medicines for hysteria and psychosis are more specific, similar to the development of antibiotics.