Cellular Neuroscience for Psychiatry: Cell Atlas

What it covers

Psychiatric pharmacology is usually taught as a list of receptors. That stops being enough when a patient is febrile, acidotic, hyponatremic or seizing, because then you need to know which cell the receptor sits on, how much metabolic reserve that cell has, and which systemic change it cannot tolerate. This section is organized by cell type for that reason. It is written for medical students and residents.

Group	Cell types
Neuromodulatory projection neurons	Dopaminergic, serotonergic, noradrenergic, cholinergic, histaminergic, orexin / hypocretin
Glutamate and GABA	Cortical pyramidal neuron, parvalbumin fast-spiking interneuron, SST and VIP interneurons, medium spiny neuron
Glia	Astrocyte, oligodendrocyte and OPC, microglia, ependymal cell and choroid plexus
Peripheral and specialized	Enteric neuron, cerebellar Purkinje cell, dentate granule cell, neurovascular unit

The four tabs

• Cell atlas. Each entry explains why the cell matters clinically, then covers its location, normal physiology, receptor and transporter complement, the diseases that are well understood, how pH, fever, seizures and electrolytes change its function, short teaching points, and links to related clinical chapters. Each has a schematic figure.
• 3D models. Four rotatable models: a comparison of neuron shapes, the tripartite synapse, receptor and transporter architecture, and a myelinated axon with nodes of Ranvier. Click a labeled part for notes.
• pH, fever, seizures and electrolytes. Four tables map each disturbance to the molecule it acts on, then to the bedside: electrolyte disturbances, acid-base status, temperature, and seizures.
• Quick reference. One row per cell. Click a name to open its full atlas entry.

Limitations

The 3D models are generated in the browser, not derived from imaging data. They are schematic teaching objects, with proportions chosen for legibility rather than measured. The correction targets and thresholds in the physiology tables reflect widely used guidance and are meant for teaching. Check them against current local protocols before applying them to a patient. For every transmitter, receptor family and transporter these cells express, see the companion Neurotransmitter & Receptor Atlas.