Recently, accumulated data have suggested that the nucleus basalis magnocellularis, i.e., the substantia innominata (SI), may represent the primary source of central cholinergic innervation in the rat cortical vasculature. We therefore examined the effects of unilateral lesion of the SI on the autoregulation of local CBF (lCBF) during induced hypotension in rats. Male Wistar rats were divided i...

Recognition memory requires processing of various types of information such as objects and locations. Impairment in recognition memory is a prominent feature of amnesia and a symptom of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Basal forebrain cholinergic neurons contain two major groups, one localized in the medial septum (MS)/vertical diagonal band of Broca (vDB), and the other in the nucleus basalis magnoce...

Converging lines of evidence have supported a role for the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NB) in attentional mechanisms; however, debate continues regarding the role of the medial septum in behavior (MS). Recent studies have supported a role for the septohippocampal system in the online processing of internally generated cues. The current study was designed to investigate a possible double di...

N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors have been implicated in learning and memory. Many findings show that NMDA receptor antagonists impair memory. Few studies, however, have investigated the role of NMDA receptor agonists in mnemonic function. The present study examined the effects of nucleus basalis magnocellularis (nbm) injections of NMDA on memory. Rats were trained in a two-component doubl...

The nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM) is the major cholinergic projection to neocortex in the rat and plays a role in the modulation of cortical activity. Lesions of the NBM decrease thickness of lamina II-III of frontal cortex and decrease soma size of lamina II-III neurons. Additionally, aging produces changes in neuron size and numbers in the basal forebrain and frontal cortex of rats. W...

Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LC-PUFA) composition of neural membranes is a key factor for brain development, in chemical communication of neurons and probably also their survival in response to injury. Viability of cholinergic neurons was tested during brain development following dietary supplementation of fish oil LC-PUFAs (docosahexaenoic acid [DHA], eicosapentaenoic acid, arachidon...

Studies using selective lesions of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons suggest that these neurons play a role in attentional processing, but not learning and memory. However, the tests of learning and memory used thus far have been restricted largely to spatial tasks. In the present study, we examined whether the cholinergic basal forebrain plays a role in a form of nonspatial associative memor...

By using immunohistochemical approaches at the light and electron microscopic levels, we have shown that aging modifies the subcellular distribution of the m2 muscarinic autoreceptor (m2R) differentially at somato-dendritic postsynaptic sites and at axonal presynaptic sites in cholinergic basalocortical neurons, in vivo. In cholinergic perikarya and dendrites of the nucleus basalis magnocellula...

The nucleus basalis of Meynert has been studied extensively in the recent literature. Interest in this nucleus has resulted from the discovery that it is a major source of cortical cholinergic input and that there is neuronal loss in the nucleus basalis in some dementing illnesses. Consistent and severe involvement of the nucleus basalis of Meynert has been found in Alzheimer's disease and in t...

There is a large body of evidence suggesting that cholinergic activity is involved in memory processes. It seems that cholinergic activity is essential to learn several tasks and recent works suggest that acetylcholine plays an important role during the early stages of memory formation. In this review, we will discuss the results related to taste memory formation, focusing particularly on the c...