If you’ve ever heard of the “mind-muscle con­nec­tion”, here is a graphic to help explain what that means. It all has to do with the ner­vous system’s “con­nec­tion” to mus­cle fibers. Shown here is a close up rep­re­sen­ta­tion of what is called the Neu­ro­mus­cu­lar Junc­tion. These junc­tions are the link between nerve impulses and mus­cle con­trac­tions. The key to mak­ing the “jump” from nerve sig­nals to mus­cle fibers are neu­ro­trans­mit­ters. Neu­ro­trans­mit­ters are released from the ends of nerves, jump the “gap” and the sig­nal is “trans­ferred” to mus­cle fibers. The pri­mary neu­ro­trans­mit­ter for mus­cle con­trac­tions is acetyl­choline. How­ever, acetyl­choline is also a chief neu­ro­trans­mit­ter in the brain where it sup­ports cog­ni­tion and mem­ory. Some pre-workout sup­ple­ments incor­po­rate ingre­di­ents such as DMAE, choline or Alpha GPC (to name a few exam­ples). These nutri­ents are pre­cur­sors to acetylcholine.