The effects of nerve growth factor beta (beta-NGF) and ganglioside GM1 on forebrain cholinergic neurons were examined in vivo and in vitro. Following unilateral decortication of rats, GM1 (5 mg/kg per day) administered intracerebroventricularly could protect forebrain cholinergic neurons of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis from retrograde degeneration in a manner comparable to beta-NGF. Admi...

An auditory projection to the frontolateral telencephalon of birds, originally described by Iljitschew, is confirmed for the pigeon. Potentials evoked by acoustic stimuli were recorded from the neostriatum frontale closely surrounding the nucleus basalis, in anesthetized and awake subjects. The latency of these responses was short (5 to 8 ms) compared to that of responses recorded from the orth...

w x Ž . Ž . The a 7 nicotinic receptor agonist 32,4-dimethoxybenzylidene anabaseine DMXB; GTS-21 was investigated for its ability to: 1 Ž . activate a variety of nicotinic receptor subtypes in Xenopus oocytes; 2 improve passive avoidance and spatial Morris water task Ž . w3 x performances in mecamylamine-sensitive manners in bilaterally nucleus basalis lesioned rats; and 3 elevate high-affinity...

Quinolinic acid, a metabolite of tryptophan, behaves as an excitotoxic amino acid. It has been proposed that quinolinic acid might be implicated in neurodegenerative diseases. The related metabolite, kynurenic acid, has been found to be a powerful antagonist of quinolinic acid. The ability of quinolinic acid, alone or in combination with kynurenic acid, to destroy cholinergic neurons projecting...

The selectivity of neurons in sensory cortex can be modified by pairing neuromodulator release with sensory stimulation. Repeated pairing of electrical stimulation of the cholinergic nucleus basalis, for example, induces input specific plasticity in primary auditory cortex (A1). Pairing nucleus basalis stimulation (NBS) with a tone increases the number of A1 neurons that respond to the paired t...

Ample experimental evidence indicates that acute beta-amyloid infusion into the nucleus basalis of rats elicits abrupt degeneration of the magnocellular cholinergic neurons projecting to the cerebral cortex. In fact, involvement of a permanent Ca2+ overload, partially via N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, was proposed as a pivotal mechanism in beta-amyloid-induced neurodegeneration. A defi...

BACKGROUND The cholinergic nucleus basalis (Ch4) is an exclusive site of neurofibrillary degeneration in alcoholic patients with Wernicke's encephalopathy. AIM To test the hypothesis that the loss of Ch4 neurons contributes to the memory disorder, Korsakoff's psychosis, commonly seen in Wernicke's encephalopathy. METHODS Magnocellular basal forebrain neurons were quantified in alcoholic pat...

OBJECTIVE Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a therapeutically effective neurosurgical method originally applied in movement disorders. Over time, the application of DBS has increasingly been considered as a therapeutic option for several neuropsychiatric disorders, including Gilles de la Tourette syndrome, obsessive compulsive disorder, major depression and addiction. Latest research suggests ben...