All parts of the brain › Brain chemicals

Brain chemicals: where each one is made, and where it goes

Each of these four messengers is made by a few small groups of cells, mostly in the brainstem and the base of the forebrain, whose fibres then spread through much of the brain. Tap a chemical to light where it is made; its own page lights where it is sent too. [1][2][3][4]

The 3D brain needs JavaScript. The list below still says where each chemical is made.

Lit: the parts that hold the cells making these 4 chemicals.

Slice

Lit in blue: every part that holds a source, as on each chemical’s page. Drag to turn, pinch or scroll to zoom; tap a part or a “light where it is made” button to see one chemical’s sources; .

Not separate shapes in this atlas; lit: the parts that hold them. Lit: the whole midbrain, hypothalamus, pons, medulla oblongata, globus pallidus and septum (septum of telencephalon), which hold the cell groups that make them (the substantia nigra, ventral tegmental area (VTA), arcuate and periventricular nuclei of the hypothalamus, raphe nuclei, locus coeruleus, nucleus basalis, medial septal nucleus, pedunculopontine nucleus and laterodorsal tegmental nucleus); those cell groups are too small to be shapes in the BodyParts3D model, so nothing is drawn at a guessed point. [1][5][6][2][7][8][3][9][4][10][11][12]

The chemicals, each on its own page

Dopamine (3,4-dihydroxyphenethylamine): Made in the substantia nigra and ventral tegmental area of the midbrain and in the hypothalamus; sent to the striatum, the prefrontal cortex and the pituitary gland. [1][5]
Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine): Made in the raphe nuclei along the midline of the brainstem; sent up to the forebrain and down to the cerebellum and spinal cord. [2][7]
Noradrenaline (norepinephrine, noradrenalin): Made in the locus coeruleus in the pons; sent to every major part of the brain and the spinal cord. [3][8]
Acetylcholine: Made in the basal forebrain (nucleus basalis, medial septal nucleus) and in the brainstem (pedunculopontine and laterodorsal tegmental nuclei); sent to the cortex, hippocampus, amygdala and thalamus. [4][13]

Each page lights where the chemical is made in blue and where it is sent in orange, and names its pathways.

Looking for a hormone?

These are made in the brain too, and already have pages:

Melatonin: made by the pineal gland, from serotonin. [14]
Oxytocin: made in the paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei of the hypothalamus and released from the posterior pituitary; the hormones page follows the whole chain. [15][16][17]
Vasopressin: made in the supraoptic and paraventricular nuclei of the hypothalamus and released from the posterior pituitary; the hormones page follows the whole chain. [16][15][17]

Sources

Facts describe anatomy and normal function only. The 3D model is the adult male BodyParts3D brain (credits and licence); the cell groups that make these chemicals have no shape in it, so the parts that hold them are lit. Real brains vary.