serotonin
a neurotransmitter, derived from tryptophan, that is involved in sleep, depression, memory, and other neurological processes.
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Origin of serotonin
1Words Nearby serotonin
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use serotonin in a sentence
The best weighted blankets work by evenly distributing weight across the body to increase serotonin production, which makes us feel calmer.
Best weighted blanket: Sleep like a baby with our comfy bedding picks | PopSci Commerce Team | February 12, 2021 | Popular-ScienceWhen sunlight goes away, it can also take serotonin away with it.
You just learned that serotonin can affect a dreaming person’s sense of how significant a weak association is.
Dreaming Is Like Taking LSD - Issue 95: Escape | Antonio Zadra & Robert Stickgold | January 14, 2021 | NautilusThe only drug that worked on this system of glutamate — rather than something like, for example, Prozac affects things like serotonin as does all the other dozens of antidepressants on the market.
How Are Psychedelics and Other Party Drugs Changing Psychiatry? (Ep. 433) | Stephen J. Dubner | October 1, 2020 | FreakonomicsLittle is known about how serotonin acts in the brain, and investigators quickly recognized that PCPA could be used to study this brain chemical.
50 years ago, an experimental drug hinted at serotonin’s many roles in the brain | Lisa Grossman | September 29, 2020 | Science News
Once your serotonin levels are back up to normal, they can make enough melatonin so you can sleep better, says Dr. Rindfleisch.
Spaghetti squash also contains specific nutrients that help convert the tryptophan in other foods you eat into serotonin.
6 Healthy Foods to Fight the Flu, Beat Stress and More | DailyBurn | February 5, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTFlooding your brain with dopamine and serotonin, it not only heightens feelings of euphoria, but empathy and love as well.
Molly: The Dangerous Drug That’s Too Good to Quit | Abby Haglage | September 8, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTBesides dopamine, serotonin might play a role, too, researchers say, as well as other brain chemicals and receptors.
Those drugs are SSRIs—serotonin uptake inhibitors—and they spin their mood magic by elevating levels of serotonin in the brain.
British Dictionary definitions for serotonin
/ (ˌsɛrəˈtəʊnɪn) /
a compound that occurs in the brain, intestines, and blood platelets and acts as a neurotransmitter, as well as inducing vasoconstriction and contraction of smooth muscle; 5-hydroxytryptamine (5HT)
Origin of serotonin
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for serotonin
[ sĕr′ə-tō′nĭn, sîr′- ]
A monoamine substance that is formed from tryptophan and found in many animal tissues, including the intestine and central nervous system. In the brain, serotonin acts as a neurotransmitter that is involved in the control of pain perception, the sleep-wake cycle, and mood. Serotonin is also produced in some bacteria and plants.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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