ALPHABETICAL BRAIN VOCABULARY Flash Card #72 - Details WHAT ARE YOUR "PEPTIDE NEURONS" AND WHY ARE THEY SO IMPORTANT? Your PEPTIDE NEURONS, which are "protein-like molecules" with a special amino-acid sequence, are used by your NEURONS to communicate with each other for the purpose of impacting food intake or altering your learning and memory abilities. They are "signal molecules," which can influence the activity of your brain in specific ways, such as reducing pain (when they function as an analgesia) or increasing pleasure (when they function as rewards). They tend to be diffused throughout your brain with notable exceptions and generally affect the excitability of your other neurons by "depolarising" or "hyperpolarising" them. Reference book source = (Your Brain on Food, pages 23-24) Return to #72: PEPTIDE NEURONS or BRAIN FACTS MATRIX