Cholinergic Neuron

A neurons cell type of the human nervous system.

Basal forebrain and brainstem acetylcholine neuron supporting attention, memory, arousal, and a central target of Alzheimer's disease research.

Function

Pathway-specific cholinergic modulation of attention, cortical arousal, learning, and memory; basal forebrain input acts as an instructive signal for cortical map plasticity.

Morphology

Large, multipolar neurons (basal forebrain magnocellular neurons are among the largest cortically projecting cells).

Specification

  • Neurotransmitter: Acetylcholine (ACh)
  • Co-transmitters: GABA (only in specific subsets); otherwise N/A
  • Receptors: Muscarinic; Nicotinic
  • Location: Basal forebrain (nucleus basalis of Meynert, medial septum); brainstem (PPN/LDT); also striatal interneurons and spinal motor neurons
  • Projections: Cortex; Hippocampus; Amygdala
  • Firing: Slow regular
  • Markers: ChAT (CHAT); VAChT (SLC18A3); CHT1 (SLC5A7)
  • Developmental origin: Medial ganglionic eminence
  • Disease: Alzheimer's disease (basal forebrain cholinergic degeneration underlies the cholinergic hypothesis; basis for cholinesterase-inhibitor therapy); also Lewy body dementias, Down syndrome dementia
  • Cell Ontology: CL:0000108

References

  1. Hampel H et al. (2018). The cholinergic system in the pathophysiology and treatment of Alzheimer's disease.. Brain : a journal of neurology 141 PMID 29850777
  2. Kilgard MP & Merzenich MM (1998). Cortical map reorganization enabled by nucleus basalis activity.. Science (New York, N.Y.) 279 PMID 9497289
  3. Ferreira-Vieira TH, Guimaraes IM, Silva FR, & Ribeiro FM (2016). Alzheimer's disease: Targeting the Cholinergic System.. Current neuropharmacology 14 PMID 26813123

Loading interactive 3D atlas…