Too Much Or Too Little GABA In The Brain's Chemistry Has Familiar Effects

Online, February 20, 2012 (Newswire.com) - Low levels of Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA), an inhibitory neurotransmitter, are associated with clinical conditions of Bipolar Disorder, Mania, and milder effects of poor impulse control, such as risk-taking, temper tantrums, and stealing. When GABA is low in the brain, impulsive behaviors are not prevented by logical or rational cognitive thinking. How does this unusual "brian acid" cause this kind of chaos? It does this by decreasing the ability of other neurotransmitters in chemistry of the brain to work. GABA is involved in our level of excitability. Rather than encouraging communication between cells such as other neurotransmitters like natural Dopamine, Serotonin or Norepinephrine - GABA reduces, discourages, and blocks the communication. This neurotransmitter is essential in the areas of the brain that involve emotion and anxiety.

High levels of GABA produce more self control, relaxation, and even sedation. In fact, anyone whose had a a beer or two down at the bar has felt the effects of elevated GABA levels. The relaxation that the happy hour crowd feels comes from increased GABA levels brought on by alcohol intake. Too many martinis, and those elevated GABA levels create the slurred speech, unsteady balance, and unclear thinking so well known for those who've had a little too much. But the relationship between GABA and alcohol doesn't stop there. Sudden extreme drops of high GABA levels like alcohol withdrawal can produce low GABA level and even the possibility of seizures.

To underscore how important GABA is for good mental health, today's anti-anxiety medications work precisely by increasing actual GABA levels in the brain. A critical reason why alcoholic intake is discouraged when taking these medications is that alcohol increases GABA levels to produce mild euphoria, loss of social anxiety, and the other familiar symptoms of intoxication. In fact, many researchers have documented the dramatic decrease in GABA levels as a probable major cause of relapse to alcoholism in individuals undergoing treatment, leading many to postulate that GABA for alcoholism treatment by the intake of an effective GABA supplement could be useful.

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