Your body has two special types of chemical messengers that transmit signals to elicit specific responses in your body.
These are called neurotransmitters and hormones.
While these two are different cell types, they have a surprising number of similarities between them—so many people can sometimes confuse their function.
In this post, we’ll take a deep dive into the subject and examine the crucial differences between neurotransmitters vs hormones.
We’ll look closely at what each type of cell is, how they affect the body, and examples of both. We’ll also look at the specific reactions each elicits in the body so you understand the critical differences that set them apart.
Neurotransmitters are the chemical messengers that transmit signals from cell to cell.
Neurotransmitters relay the signals from neurons, across synapses (microscopic spaces), and deliver them to the target cells, there to elicit some specific reaction.
The majority of neurons produce just one type of neurotransmitter. However, cells can be affected by multiple neurotransmitters at the same time, which can trigger a variety of chemical reactions.
To understand neurotransmitters, you need to understand how nerve cells work.
Nerve cells are made up of three different parts:
Neurotransmitters are stored in the axon terminal, inside synaptic vesicles, thin-walled sacs that serve as housing for thousands of neurotransmitter molecules at the same time.
When a signal or message is relayed via a nerve cell, the electrical charge triggers the fusing of the vesicles with the nerve cell membrane. The nerve cell releases those neurotransmitters into the synaptic junction, the fluid-filled space between your body’s cells.
The synaptic junction conveys the neurotransmitter to the next cell, where it fits with a specific receptor that triggers some change or activity in the cell.
This chain of events is the reason that your body can function. Everything from muscle contraction to hormone release is triggered by neurotransmitters.
There have been more than a hundred different types of neurotransmitters discovered by researchers, and it’s believed more have yet to be identified.
They can be grouped into a few categories:
One neurotransmitter that’s in a category all its own is acetylcholine. It’s released by the majority of your autonomic nervous system neurons and is crucial for controlling your gut motility, heart rate, and blood pressure. It’s also involved in memory, sexual desire, muscle contractions, learning, and sleep.
Here are a few examples of some very important neurotransmitters and a description of their role in your body’s function:
Neurotransmitters shape how we think, feel, and react to the world around us. When they’re in balance, we stay focused, regulate emotions, and respond to stress effectively. But when something goes off track, it can lead to challenges like anxiety, memory issues, or chronic pain.
Scientists are learning more every day, opening doors to better treatments and a deeper understanding of how our brains keep us going.
Neurotransmitters act nearly instantly in the body. Typically, the response time is within milliseconds. That means whatever signal they send will have a near-instant and visible effect in the body.
However, neurotransmitters will only affect cells that have the specific receptors necessary to "read" them. Neurotransmitters are like a key that will only elicit a reaction when the adjacent neurons have a specific lock (in the form of cellular receptors keyed to that neurotransmitter).
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Unlike neurotransmitters, hormones are chemical messengers that help regulate physiological processes over time, throughout the body’s tissues and organs.
Hormones travel through your bloodstream to send signals that regulate your body’s function.
However, as you’ll soon see, there are a few significant differences in the way they control the body that set them apart from neurotransmitters.
The endocrine system is a system of glands, organs, and tissues that produce and release hormones.
It’s made up of:
These glands produce hormones that act as chemical messengers to the body.
However, other body parts that aren’t considered part of the endocrine system also produce hormones, including the liver, kidneys, placenta, adipose tissue, and gastrointestinal tract.
Hormones travel through your blood to act on specific parts of the body. Like neurotransmitters, hormones will only work if the cell they’re intended to affect have the specific endocrine receptors (the lock and key analogy holds true here, too).
Hormones are utilized for two forms of communication:
Hormones quietly regulate nearly every function in the body, from metabolism to mood. They work behind the scenes and ensure that organs communicate and adapt to changing needs. When hormone levels shift, they can impact energy, growth, and overall health. Understanding how they interact helps us recognize imbalances and explore ways to restore harmony in the body.
There are around 50 different known hormones acting within the human body, but it’s believed there are more yet to be discovered.
They can be broken down into three main types:
Each hormone type interacts differently with cells and influences processes like metabolism, stress response, and reproduction.
There are a few key hormones that play a role in regulating your bodily functions and triggering the cellular reactions necessary to maintain homeostasis.
They are:
These hormones help the body adapt to changing needs, from growth and energy use to stress and reproduction. When their levels shift, they can impact sleep, metabolism, and overall health in significant ways.
Hormonal effects vary in speed. In fact, while some take minutes or hours to trigger an effect, others will require daysfor their signals to be recognized and the appropriate response to take place in the body.
However, they are able to affect any part of the body where the cells have the proper endocrine receptors. Their impact is very widespread and can last for much longer.
It’s important to note that a few neurotransmitters also act as hormones in the body. While they are released as neurotransmitters, they can also have a hormone-like effect.
For example:
The dual role of these neurotransmitters highlights the deep connection between the endocrine and nervous systems. Their ability to act as both messengers in the brain and regulators in the body shows how tightly linked our mental and physical health are.
Understanding the differences between neurotransmitters and hormones will help you realize that though their body functions are similar, the way they act sets them apart.
Hormones take minutes, hours, or even days to trigger an effect in the body.
Neurotransmitters have an effect within milliseconds.
Hormones are produced by the endocrine system.
Neurotransmitters are produced by the nervous system.
Hormones are produced in endocrine glands (and other organs/tissues, as you saw above) and are released into the bloodstream to be dispersed through the body.
Neurotransmitters are released into the synapse by the presynaptic terminal. There, they travel across the synaptic cleft to affect the next cell or cell cluster.
Hormones can affect distant cells in any part of the body and only those that have the target endocrine receptor will respond.
Neurotransmitters can only affect the next cell or next cell cluster over.
Hormones regulate growth, development, reproduction, mood, sleep, and metabolism.
Neurotransmitters are utilized for regulating communication between neurons, primarily affecting cognition, learning, memory, motor function, and other autonomic functions. However, some can also play a role in sleep and mood.
It’s fascinating to learn how the body regulates its function through these similar yet so crucially different chemical messengers!
While neurotransmitters keep your nervous system functioning and transport signals from one nerve cell to the next, hormones transport signals from your endocrine system to your entire body.
Both hormones and neurotransmitters play similar critical roles in keeping your body running, and their disparate functions ensure a smoother, more efficient regulation of homeostasis.
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Yes, as you saw above, multiple neurotransmitters—including dopamine, serotonin, epinephrine, and norepinephrine—can also function as hormones. Their impact can be both immediate and localized (neurotransmitter) and widespread and longer-lasting (hormone).
A hormone is a chemical messenger released by your endocrine glands to travel through the bloodstream to regulate physiological functions in your body. Neurons are nerve cells that send electrical and chemical signals (in the form of neurotransmitters) through the central and peripheral nervous systems. They are the basic building blocks of your entire nervous system, including the brain and spinal cord as well as the nerves.
Hormones last significantly longer than neurotransmitters. The effects of neurotransmitters are instantaneous and as a result, they are cleared from the synapse quickly. Hormones exert their effects over wider areas for longer periods, and take longer to be broken down and cleared out of the bloodstream.
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