Title: neurotransmitter
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - neurotransmitter
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.11955
Status: current

Definition
Biochemical that is released upon excitation from a presynaptic membrane, crosses the synaptic space and binds to a receptor on the postsynaptic membrane, where it induces a signal that may be either stimulatory or inhibitory.

Related Terms
- postsynaptic: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/12016
- presynaptic: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/12018
- synaptic: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/12109

Source
- PAC, 2015, 87, 841. 'IUPAC Glossary of terms used in neurotoxicology (IUPAC Recommendations 2015)' on page 890 (https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2015-0103)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11955/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11955/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11955/xml

Citation: Citation: 'neurotransmitter' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.11955
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Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-06-30T10:51:01+00:00