[(18)F]fluoroethoxybenzovesamicol ([(18)F]FEOBV) is one of the most promising radioligands for imaging the vesicular ACh transporter (VAChT) with positron emission tomography (PET). We report here that this method can detect subtle cholinergic terminals losses such as those associated with aging, or those following a partial lesion of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM). Twenty-one adult ...

The present study examined the influence of dexefaroxan, a potent and selective alpha(2)-adrenoceptor antagonist, on cognitive performance in rodents. In young adult rats, dexefaroxan reversed the deficits induced by UK 14304 [5-bromo-N-(4,5-dihydro-1-H-imidazol-2-yl)-6-quinoxalinamine], scopolamine, and diazepam in a passive avoidance task. In this test, dexefaroxan also attenuated the spontan...

We have studied the effects of concomitant blockade of 5-HT(3) and GABA(A) receptors on acetylcholine (ACh) release in the frontal cortex of rats with a selective cholinergic lesion. Lesions were performed by microinjection of the cholinergic toxin 192 IgG-saporin into the nucleus basalis magnocellularis. Single treatment with either the 5-HT(3) receptor antagonist ondansetron, 0.1 microg/kg, o...

The present study aims to evaluate the effect of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) grafts on cognition deficit in chemically and age-induced Alzheimer's models of rats. In the first experiments aged animals (30 months) were tested in Morris water maze (MWM) and divided into two groups: impaired memory and unimpaired memory. Impaired groups were divided into two groups and cannulated bil...

Environmental stimuli during the perinatal period can result in persistent individual differences in neural viability and cognitive functions. Earlier studies have shown that brief daily maternal separation and/or handling of rat pups during the first weeks of life reduces stress reactivity during adulthood and attenuates neuronal loss and cognitive decline during aging. In the present study we...

The response properties of neurons of the postero-medial barrel sub-field of the somatosensory cortex (the cortical structure receiving information from the mystacial vibrissae can be modified as a consequence of peripheral manipulations of the afferent activity. This plasticity depends on the integrity of the cortical cholinergic innervation, which originates at the nucleus basalis magnocellul...

A recent study suggests that lesions to all major areas of the cholinergic basal forebrain in the rat (medial septum, horizontal limb of the diagonal band of Broca, and nucleus basalis magnocellularis) impair a spatial working memory task. However, this experiment used a surgical technique that may have damaged cerebellar Purkinje cells. The present study tested rats with highly selective lesio...

Some authors have reported that quisqualic acid lesions of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM), although producing large cortical cholinergic losses, have little effect on memory. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of quisqualic acid lesions of the NBM on working and reference memory in a double Y-maze. Each trial started with placement into one of the two end...

Previous studies in our laboratory have demonstrated that focal injections of picolinic acid (PIC) protect the cholinergic neurons of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (nbm) against quinolinic acid (QUIN)-induced neurotoxicity. The present study was designed to examine the effects of chronic infusions of QUIN and PIC on nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADPH) diaphorase containing neurons o...

Previously, we demonstrated that plasticity of frontal cortex is altered in aging rats: cholinergic lesions of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM) produce larger declines in dendritic morphology in frontal cortex of middle-aged and aged rats relative to young adults. To more closely examine the interactive effects of age and cholinergic deafferentation on synaptic connectivity in frontal ...