Some of the most important work concerning how the brain functions took place in the 1920s when German scientist Otto Loewi began to study neurotransmitters. Understanding neurotransmitters is essential to understand how diet effects the brain. Axons and dendrites like to hundreds of other neurons, forming a thick web of neurons in the brain. Signals are transmitted when an electric impulse is sent through one axon and therefore reaches all other neurons in the brain. These signals are started by neurotransmitters which release chemicals to neighboring nerves.
Every axon contains neurotransmitters at their end.
The chemicals are released and cross the space between axons and start an electrical wave to the nearby neuron. Loewi discovered the first neurotransmitter, acetylcholine, and studied how neurotransmitters function and what they are composed of. It is the chemical release of neurotransmitters that is so important in the study of the effects of diet on the brain because diet has a great impact on these chemicals. This information has been especially significant in treating such diseases as Parkinson's disease which leads to the deterioration of muscles. Breakthroughs in Parkinson's disease research were to a great extent a result of Dr. George Cotzias' work.