Cholinergic mechanisms in learning, memory and dementia: a review of recent evidence

doi:10.1016/0166-2236(91)90117-D

Trends in Neurosciences

Volume 14, Issue 6, June 1991, Pages 220-223

https://doi.org/10.1016/0166-2236(91)90117-D Get rights and content

Abstract

The discovery in the late 1970s that cholinergic neurons in the basal forebrain degenerate in Alzheimer's disease (AD) greatly accelerated research on the role of cholinergic mechanisms in learning and memory. As is often the case in science, the early enthusiasm for the cholinergic hypothesis has been tempered by the results of subsequent research. Although there is substantial pharmacological evidence that unspecified cholinergic systems in the brain play important roles in some forms of learning and memory, recent findings in humans indicate that antimuscarinic drugs do not model the deficits seen in AD. In addition, the goal of elucidating the functions of these basal forebrain neurons in animals has proved to be difficult and is yet to be achieved. Despite substantial effort, therefore, the cognitive and behavioral consequences of cholinergic pathology in AD remain unknown. Under these circumstances, attempts to develop cholinergic pharmacotherapies for these deficits in AD are based on questionable assumptions.

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Trends in Neurosciences

ViewpointCholinergic mechanisms in learning, memory and dementia: a review of recent evidence

Abstract

Behav. Neural Biol.

Behav. Neural Biol.

Neurobiol. Aging

Neuroscience

Brain Res. Rev.

Brain Res. Rev.

Neuroscience

Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav.

Brain Res.

Neuroscience

Brain Res.

Brain Res.

Neuroscience

Brain Res.

Neuroscience

Neuroscience

Behav. Neural Biol.

Brain Res.

Neuroscience

Science

Br. Med. J.

Viewpoint
Cholinergic mechanisms in learning, memory and dementia: a review of recent evidence