Disruption of cholinergic neurotransmission contributes to the memory impairment that characterizes Alzheimer disease (AD). Since the amyloid cascade hypothesis of AD pathogenesis postulates that amyloid beta (A beta) peptide accumulation in critical brain regions also contributes to memory impairment, we assessed cholinergic function in transgenic mice where the human A beta peptide is overexp...

The nervous and immune systems are likely to be interacting in arthritis, with the possible involvement of both neural and non-neural cholinergic transmission. Centrally acting muscarinic agonists, electrical stimulation of the vagus and treatment with nicotinic receptor agonists can all act systemically to reduce inflammation, although the responsible pathways are incompletely understood. Whil...

The effect of cholinergic basal forebrain lesions on immunoreactivity to somatostatin (SOM-i) and neuropeptide-Y (NPY-i) was investigated in the rat parietal cortex, 16-18 months after multiple bilateral ibotenic acid injections in the nucleus basalis complex. As a result of the lesion, the cholinergic fiber density in the cortex decreased by 66% with a concurrent increase in SOM-i fibers by mo...

Within the central nervous system, acetylcholine (ACh) functions as a state-dependent modulator at a range of sites, but its signaling mechanisms are yet unclear. Cholinergic projections from the brain stem and basal forebrain innervate the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), the master circadian clock in mammals, and cholinergic stimuli adjust clock timing. Cholinergic effects on clock state requir...

OBJECTIVE Central cholinergic neural circuits play a role in the regulation of feeding behavior. The dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH) is considered the appetite-stimulating center and contains cholinergic neurons. Here, we study the role of DMH cholinergic neurons in the control of food intake. METHODS To selectively stimulate DMH cholinergic neurons, we expressed stimulatory designer receptors...

The aim of the present study was to clarify the role of the basal forebrain (BF)-cortical cholinergic system in visual attentional function by investigating the effect of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid (AMPA)-induced lesions of the basal forebrain on performance of a five-choice serial reaction time task. AMPA lesions in the present study produced a profound effect on...

introduction: recent studies suggest that glucocorticoids modulate memory reconsolidation. moreover, cholinergic system is involved in memory reconsolidation. since glucocorticoids interact with brain cholinergic system in modulating memory processing, we investigated whether glucocorticoid influences on the reconsolidation of emotionally arousing training depend on the cholinergic system. meth...

Acetylcholine is the primary parasympathetic neurotransmitter in the airways and induces bronchoconstriction via binding with M3 receptors. Cholinergic tone is increased in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and this is the major reversible component of airflow obstruction in the disease [1]. Accordingly, treatment with anticholinergics is an effective bronchodilator the...

melissa officinalis l. (labiatae) traditionally used in treating neurological disorders has also been identified as a memory-enhancing herb. the extract of m. officinalis has a cholinergic property. the role of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons, the neurons that are destroyed in alzheimer’s disease (ad), in learning and memory, is also well known. the aim of this study is to investigate the r...

introduction: nitric oxide is an important endogenous compound that acts as bronchodilator in trachea. electromagnetic fields (emf) affect nitric oxide level in different tissues. the interaction of nitrergic and cholinergic systems in airways has been reported. therefore, the present study was performed to evaluate the interaction of cholinergic and nitrergic systems in the trachea of rats tha...