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Cholinergic/Noradrenergic Interactions and Memory

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Neurotransmitter Interactions and Cognitive Function

Abstract

Studies into the role of acetylcholine (ACh) in learning in memory date back more than 20 years (Deutsch, 1971). However, in the last decade investigation of the role of cholinergic dysfunction in memory deficits has taken on new urgency with the discovery that cholinergic dysfunction is characteristic of aging (Decker, 1987) and that profound disruption of cholinergic function is found in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) (Coyle et al., 1983). In AD, cholinergic dysfunction results from degeneration of cholinergic neurons in the nucleus basalis of Meynert, the source of cholinergic input to the neocortex and amygdala, and in the medial septal area/diagonal band of Broca (MSA/DBB), the source of cholinergic input to the hippocampus. Based on the hypothesis that this cholinergic dysfunction plays an important role in dementia (Bartus et al., 1982, 1985), experimentally induced disruption of cholinergic function has played a central role in the development of animal models of dementia (for reviews, see Olton and Wenk, 1987; Smith, 1988).

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Authors
  1. Michael W. Decker
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Duke University Medical Center, 27710, Durham, NC, USA

    Edward D. Levin

  2. Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, IL, 60064, USA

    Michael W. Decker

  3. Laboratory of Chemical Neuroanatomy, Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90024-1563, USA

    Larry L. Butcher

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Decker, M.W. (1992). Cholinergic/Noradrenergic Interactions and Memory. In: Levin, E.D., Decker, M.W., Butcher, L.L. (eds) Neurotransmitter Interactions and Cognitive Function. Birkhäuser Boston. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-9843-5_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-9843-5_5

  • Publisher Name: Birkhäuser Boston

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4615-9845-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-9843-5

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