Journal ArticleDOI
Amelioration of cholinergic neuron atrophy and spatial memory impairment in aged rats by nerve growth factor.
Walter Fischer,Klas Wictorin,Anders Björklund,Lawrence R. Williams,Silvio Varon,Fred H. Gage +5 more
TLDR
Continuous intracerebral infusion of NGF over a period of four weeks can partly reverse the cholinergic cell body atrophy and improve retention of a spatial memory task in behaviourally impaired aged rats.Abstract:
In aged rodents, impairments in learning and memory have been associated with an age-dependent decline in forebrain of cholinergic function, and recent evidence indicates that the cholinergic neurons in the nucleus basalis magnocellularis, the septal-diagonal band area and the striatum undergo age-dependent atrophy. Thus, as in Alzheimer-type dementia in man, degenerative changes in the forebrain cholinergic system may contribute to age-related cognitive impairments in rodents. The cause of these degenerative changes is not known. Recent studies have shown that the central cholinergic neurons in the septal-diagonal band area, nucleus basalis and striatum are sensitive to the neurotrophic protein nerve growth factor (NGF). In particular, intraventricular injections or infusions of NGF in young adult rats have been shown to prevent retrograde neuronal cell death and promote behavioural recovery after damage to the septo-hippocampal connections. It is so far not known, however, whether the atrophic cholinergic neurons in aged animals are responsive to NGF treatment. We report here that continuous intracerebral infusion of NGF over a period of four weeks can partly reverse the cholinergic cell body atrophy and improve retention of a spatial memory task in behaviourally impaired aged rats.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Model for aging in the basal forebrain cholinergic system.
TL;DR: The role of apoptotic regulators, such as nerve growth factor, in age-associated changes present in the cholinergic system and the role of the NF-kappaB signaling system in cellular commitment to apoptosis are discussed.
Book ChapterDOI
The Basal Forebrain Cholinergic System: An Evolving Concept in the Neurobiology of the Forebrain
TL;DR: In various telencephalic targets of the system, terminal fields of these cells are organized differently, both in terms of cholinergic fiber densities and the extent of terminal domains of individual neurons.
Journal ArticleDOI
Learning induces changes in the central cholinergic system of the rat in a sexually dimorphic pattern.
TL;DR: The statistical evaluation of the data reveal that learning induces changes, especially in the postsynaptic component of the central cholinergic system, which shows some sexual dimorphism, and that males and females respond with different levels of increased Cholinergic activity to informal and associative learning.
Journal ArticleDOI
Intracerebral delivery of growth factors: potential application of genetically modified fibroblasts.
TL;DR: The present article explores the potential use of grafting genetically modified fibroblasts within the nervous system as a delivery method for growth factors.
Journal ArticleDOI
hNGF Peptides Elicit the NGF-TrkA Signalling Pathway in Cholinergic Neurons and Retain Full Neurotrophic Activity in the DRG Assay
Viviana Triaca,Elena Fico,Valentina Sposato,Silvia Caioli,Maria Teresa Ciotti,Cristina Zona,Delio Mercanti,Diego La Mendola,Cristina Satriano,Enrico Rizzarelli,Enrico Rizzarelli,P. Tirassa,Pietro Calissano +12 more
TL;DR: The findings here reported pinpoint the hNGF1–14 peptide, and in particular its acetylated derivative, as novel, specific and low molecular weight TrkA specific agonists in both CNS and PNS primary neurons.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Developments of a water-maze procedure for studying spatial learning in the rat
TL;DR: Developments of an open-field water-maze procedure in which rats learn to escape from opaque water onto a hidden platform are described, suggesting that they may lend themselves to a variety of behavioural investigations, including pharmacological work and studies of cerebral function.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Cholinergic Hypothesis of Geriatric Memory Dysfunction
Raymond T. Bartus,Raymond T. Bartus,Reginald L. Dean,Bernard Beer,Bernard Beer,Arnold S. Lippa,Arnold S. Lippa +6 more
TL;DR: Biochemical, electrophysiological, and pharmacological evidence supporting a role for cholinergic dysfunction in age-related memory disturbances is critically reviewed and an attempt has been made to identify pseudoissues, resolve certain controversies, and clarify misconceptions that have occurred in the literature.
Journal ArticleDOI
Book reviewHandbook of Chemical Neuroanatomy: Methods in Chemical Neuroanatomy. Edited by A. Bjorklund and T. Hokfelt. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1983. Cloth bound, 548 pp. UK £140. (Volume 1 in the series).
Journal ArticleDOI
Nerve growth factor promotes survival of septal cholinergic neurons after fimbrial transections
TL;DR: It is suggested that fimbrial transections resulted in retrograde degeneration of cholinergic septo-hippocampal neurons and that NGF treatment strongly attenuated this lesion-induced degeneration.
Journal ArticleDOI
Nerve growth factor treatment after brain injury prevents neuronal death
TL;DR: Cholinergic neuronal degeneration after axotomy has been proposed to be due to the loss of a retrogradely transported neurotrophic factor, possibly nerve growth factor (NGF), and NGF was continuously infused into the lateral ventricles of adult rats that had received bilateral lesions of all cholinergic axons projecting from the medial septum to the dorsal hippocampus.