The Neurotransmitter Throwdown: GABA vs. Glutamate
HQ is setting our clocks back to Eastern Standard Time this weekend, and on the one hand, it’s dandy to get an extra hour of sleep… but on the other hand, for anyone without an early sleep phase, that means a little less daylight in our lives for the next few months. Will the extra hour really pay off and give us Northern Hemisphere types some energy for the coming winter? It might all depend on how much GABA vs. glutamate is in our brains.
Team GABA
- In mammals, GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) is the chief inhibitory neurotransmitter, which means it helps you feel relaxed and calm.
- Besides regulating your mood, it also plays a role in your attention span, your overall cognition, and your sleep functions.
- Low GABA levels can be correlated with conditions like depression, anxiety, panic attacks, PTSD, insomnia, and chemical dependency.
Team Glutamate
- Among the most common neurotransmitters in vertebrates, glutamate performs an excitatory function, which keeps your neurons in a state of long-term potentiation; this means it strengthens signals across your brain and helps your brain stay plastic, i.e. able to form new connections.
- As a result, you need glutamate for cognition and memory, but it has other uses like protein production and metabolic regulation.
- Low glutamate levels may interfere with your ability to learn and focus. But if glutamate gets too high, a “glutamate storm” may cause neurological damage; this is associated with spinal cord/traumatic brain injury, stroke, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, Parkinson’s, or ALS.
Which of these neurotransmitters sounds like you? Or perhaps: which do you wish you had more of? Are you always looking for a way to chill out, or do you push yourself to remain on the go? This competition starts at 11:00 AM EDT on 11/3 and runs for 24 hours!
The usual bonuses
Earn 5,000 points – 2,500 bonus
Earn 15,000 points – 5,000 bonus
Earn 25,000 points – 10,000 bonus
For every 25,000 points above 25,000 – 5,000 bonus
Member of winning team (if you’ve scored at least 2,500 points) – 10,000 bonus
Highest scorer on each team – 5,000 bonus
Player with #1 overall score – 10,000 bonus
Player with #2 overall score – 5,000 bonus
Player with #3 overall score – 2,500 bonus
Artwork by Tyler Scagliarini