Neurotransmitters Treating Violence?

     This week I came to terms with the complex messinging system of the body: the nervous system. The nervous system is split between the peripheral nervous system and the central nervous system. (The peripheral divides down into sub-groups) but the main focus of this blog is to address neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are special chemical messages that travel accross the synapse to binding receptor sites to pass along messages to various body parts and the brain. There are many different types of neurotransmitters that affect different hormones and feelings ie. Serotonin. I stumbled accross the article http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/you-illuminated/201201/treating-violence-new-antidotes which talks about different drugs used to target neurotransmitters like GABA (an inhibitory neurotransmitter) to reduce the physical acts of violence on aggressive psyciatric patients.
   This article explains how drugs like Haldol and lithium have been around for a few decades and have been used to help lessen agressive patients but serious side effects such as loss in cognation have resulted. Now scientists are discovering which neurotransmitters to target with newly formed drugs to produce the same result in aggression, but provide a safer method to do it. We know that the neurotransmitter serotonin affects a person's mood and an undersupply can lead to depression and aggression. A medication called Zomig is used to lessen the effects of migranes. Zomig was also part of a study to see if it would be an acceptable drug to use in lessening feelings of aggression. By specifically targeting Serotonin 1B receptors, Zomig acts as an agonist and allows more Serotonin to be released causing positive feelings to arise. Zomig still needs clinical tests done to see any and all possible side effects but it can be a positive step forward in treating aggression. Psychology is universal and has many applications in medicine.