RT Book, Section A1 Free, R. Benjamin A1 Clark, Janet A1 Amara, Susan A1 Sibley, David R. A2 Brunton, Laurence L. A2 Hilal-Dandan, Randa A2 Knollmann, Björn C. SR Print(0) ID 1162535152 T1 Neurotransmission in the Central Nervous System T2 Goodman & Gilman's: The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, 13e YR 2017 FD 2017 PB McGraw-Hill Education PP New York, NY SN 9781259584732 LK accessbiomedicalscience.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1162535152 RD 2024/04/16 AB The brain is a complex assembly of interacting cells that regulate many of life’s activities in a dynamic fashion, generally through the communication process of chemical neurotransmission. Because the CNS drives so many physiological responses, it stands to reason that centrally-acting drugs are invaluable for a plethora of conditions. CNS-acting drugs are used not only to treat anxiety, depression, mania, and schizophrenia, but also to target diverse pathophysiological conditions, such as pain, fever, movement disorders, insomnia, eating disorders, nausea, vomiting, and migraine. However, as the CNS dictates such diverse physiology, the recreational use of some CNS-acting drugs can lead to physical dependence (Chapter 24) with enormous societal impacts. The sheer breadth of physiological and pathological activities mediated by drug molecules acting in the CNS makes this class of therapeutics both wide-ranging and immeasurably important.