Posted by Chairman_MAO on May 5, 2005, at 20:24:40
In reply to Urine Test to Measure Neurotransmitter Levels???, posted by Elroy on May 4, 2005, at 18:58:16
This is all B.S. It is so much more complicated than "neurotransmitter levels"; neurotransmitters aren't like gasoline stored in a tank. You don't "top it off" when it gets low, etc. What matters is which neurons fire, and where, receptor densities, second messenger systems (G protein coupled receptors) etc, etc. The urine tests can measure metabolites of neurotransmitters to get some sort of vague idea, but these tests are not routinely run precisely because their results have very limited diagnostic import. What it really comes down to is we have no idea how neural firing relates to consciousness, and it is in the conscious mind--not the brain--where all of these disorders ultimately reside. Despite what anyone tells you, psychiatry today still dispenses drugs based upon their BEHAVIORAL effects, not their neurological ones.
poster:Chairman_MAO
thread:493827
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050504/msgs/494233.html