Concussion. Kester J Nedd DO

      A Second Messenger System of the Cell

      Another messenger system that exists in the nerve cell is the neurochemical messenger system, which gets its order from the core of the cell (the nucleus), also located in the cell body. This system starts with an instruction system referred to as DNA. DNA contains all the instructions for the productions of many neurochemicals in the nervous system. Like electric currents, neurochemicals are classified as messengers. Neurotransmitters are created in the cell body based on instructions from DNA. These chemical messengers or neurochemicals are also called neurotransmitter substances, as they truly transmit messages.

      They are produced in a precursor state in the cell body. Precursor neurotransmitters are neurotransmitters in their non-active state. By the time they get out of the cell body and are transmitted to the axon terminals (endpoint) through the axon, they transform from the precursor neurotransmitters to full-fledged neurotransmitters.