ABSTRACT
The nervous system consists of specialized cells with an ability to generate and conduct electrical impulses along a nerve cell and to transmit the impulse to other nerve cells, or to sense organs and effect organs. Together with the endocrine system, the nervous system controls the body’s functions, by the release of chemical signal substances called transmitter substances or transmitters. Drugs, some food substances, natural stimulants and intoxicating substances can alter the nerve cells’ ability to generate, conduct and transmit signals. The ways in which drugs can modify the actions of the peripheral nervous system are relatively well understood but there is still a great deal to be learnt about drug action in the central nervous system.
