Advance in research on cholinergic theory of Alzheimers disease / 中国药理学通报

ABSTRACT

It is generally agreed that the central cholinergic system plays an important role in learning and memory processes. Alzheimers disease (AD), the most common cause of dementia, is a devastating illness characterized by progressive cognitive deterioration. The learning and cognitive deficits observed in AD patients are hypothesized to be partly caused by central cholinergic system dysfunction. There exists a malicious cycle in the pathologic course of AD, that is, the impairment of central cholinergic transmission could increase the amount of A? in the brain, and the increase of A? could also impair the efficacy of the cholinergic transmission.