Serotonin: 6 effects of this hormone on your body and mind

The human brain It is an organ of such complexity that within it there are thousands of chemical substances interacting so that we can experience things and perceive reality as we do.

Our behavior has biological bases that decisively influence us, and among these biological factors that make us who we are are substances such as serotonin. Let's see what makes this hormone so special, and how it influences our brain.

Serotonin: what effects does this hormone have on your body and mind?

Some of these substances can only be found in certain types of cells and have very important functions. concrete (so much so that many of them have yet to be discovered), but others act both in the brain and outside of this. This is the case, for example, of serotonin, also known as 5-HT.

5-HT is deeply integrated into the functioning of the human body and memorizing all its functions can be very intricate. However, in this summary you can know six of the main effects serotonin has on the human body.

1. It has a fundamental role in digestion

Serotonin is a substance that behaves like a hormone in the blood and that acts as a neurotransmitter in the brain. In other words, serotonin is one of the communication units that neurons capture and emit to influence each other, creating brain activation dynamics and chain effects. Thus, serotonin favors the crossing of information between neurons and that, beyond the brain, serves very different purposes. In fact, the highest concentrations of serotonin are not in the brain but in the gastrointestinal tract.

It is in the intestines where one of the most important functions of serotonin becomes important: the regulation of digestion. Too high levels of serotonin are linked to the appearance of diarrhea, while an excessive deficit of this substance can cause constipation. What's more, also influences the appearance (or absence) of appetite.

2. Regulates positive and negative moods

Serotonin can be found in large amounts by many parts of the body, and therefore a general imbalance in the production of this substance can have drastic effects on various factors that affect the way we feel and behave.

Specifically, serotonin has been associated for many years with the symptoms of depression, since people with a disorder of this type tend to have low concentrations of 5-HT in the blood. However, it is not known to what extent it is the serotonin deficiency that causes depression or vice versa.

3. Control body temperature level

Among the basic maintenance functions of the integrity of our body that we associate with serotonin is also the thermal regulation. This is a very delicate balance, because a difference of a few degrees in body temperature can lead to the massive death of large groups of cell tissues.

Neurons, for example, are especially sensitive in this regard.

4. Influences sexual desire

A correlation between serotonin levels and sexual libido. High levels of 5-HT are associated with a lack of sexual desire, while low levels would promote the appearance of behaviors aimed at satisfying this need.

In addition, serotonin also appears to have an effect on the ability of humans to fall in love and feel love for another person. You can discover it in this article:

• "The chemistry of love: a very powerful drug"

5. Reduces aggressiveness levels

Serotonin also serves to stabilize the emotional state of the human being in situations of tension. Specifically, it serves to inhibit aggressiveness and the violent behaviors that can result from it. Thus, the most impulsive and violent people tend to have lower levels of serotonin acting on key points in the brain than those who are more peaceful.

Furthermore, this substance gets on especially badly with testosterone, a hormone that, by acting on neurons making them more insensitive to serotonin, enhances aggressive behavior.

6. Regulates the sleep cycle

Throughout the day, serotonin levels rise and fall describing the curves that mark the circadian rhythm, which is the schedule that our body follows to know when to sleep and when not, and that therefore regulates our sleep and our wakefulness. Thus, 5-HT levels tend to peak at the sunniest times of the day, while during deep sleep they drop to a minimum.

In this way the production of serotonin influences regulating our ability to sleep, favoring or hindering the fall asleep. Something similar happens with another substance called melatonin.

Discovering excess serotonin syndrome

Serotonin is found in all healthy humans, but too much of it can lead to problems. What happens when our body generates too much serotonin? It is not a trivial question, since there is a pathology associated with this excess of serotonin.

The excessive use of anti-depression drugs (so-called "antidepressants"), which are basically responsible for stimulating the production of the hormone serotonin, can have a negative effect on our body. You can find out by reading this article, where we explain exactly what this syndrome consists of and what symptoms it presents:

• "Serotonin syndrome: causes, symptoms and treatment"

Bibliographic references:

• Afifi, A.K. and Bergman, R.A. (1999) Functional neuroanatomy. McGraw Hill.
• Martin, J.H. (1997). Neuroanatomy. Text and Atlas. Madrid: Prentice Hall.
• Paxinos, G. and Mai, J. (2004). The human nervous system. Academic Press, Inc.
• Valverde, F. (2002). Structure of the cerebral cortex. Intrinsic organization and comparative analysis of the neocortex. Journal of Neurology. 34 (8).