Pathological changes in the nucleus of meynert in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases

<i>In vitro</i> acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase inhibitory potentials of essential oil of <i>Artemisia macrocephala</i>

“…Alzheimer's disease patients show a progressive loss of cholinergic synapses in the brain regions performing higher mental func- acetylcholine through the inhibition of both forms of cholinesterase: AChE and BChE. Moreover, the inhibition of AChE plays a key role not only enhancing cholinergic transmission in the brain, but also reducing the aggregation of amyloid beta peptide (A ) and the formation of the neurotoxic fibrils in Alzheimer's disease (Candy et al, 1983;Sung et al, 2002).…”

MEG resting state functional connectivity in Parkinson’s disease related dementia

“…A possible common candidate accounting for the loss of synchronization could be the profound loss of cortical cholinergic projections from the basal nucleus of Meynert, since this is a characteristic of AD, DLB and PDD (Braak et al 2003;Londos et al 2002;Lippa et al 1999;Cullen and Halliday 1998;Lehericy et al 1993;Vogels et al 1990;Candy et al 1983). Involvement of the cholinergic system is supported by an animal study, in which lesioning of the cholinergic system resulted in a reduction of long distance intrahemispheric as well as interhemispheric coherence (Holschneider et al 1999).…”

Selective Antibody-Induced Cholinergic Cell and Synapse Loss Produce Sustained Hippocampal and Cortical Hypometabolism with Correlated Cognitive Deficits

“…This loss of function has been hypothesized to depend, at least in part, on the decline in acetylcholine levels and cholinergic neuronal systems (2,12,14,66,72). Cholinergic degeneration is considered to be an important factor underlying memory deficits in neurological disease, such as dementia of Alzheimer's type, and even some Parkinson patients (10,72,74,79). Severity of dementia, number of plaques and, to some degree, loss of synapses, correlate with the degeneration of the cholinergic system in many Alzheimer's patients (27,65).…”

“…The disease is neurochemically and pathologically characterized by APP mismetabolism, extracellular deposition of amyloid ␤-peptide (A␤)-containing neuritic plaques and intraneuronal tau-containing fibrillary tangles. There is also extensive synaptic and neuronal loss in allo-and neocortex, along with a marked degeneration and loss of cholinergic neurons within the basal forebrain (BF), and reduced choline acetyl transferase (ChAT) in cortex and hippocampus (7,8,10,14,66,79). Another common finding in affected individuals is reduced glucose metabolism in cortical and hippocampal regions, detected by positron emission tomography (PET), notable as these are the primary projection targets of BF cholinergic efferents (19,22,23).…”