title: Effects of cholinergic agents on spontaneous activity of nucleus basalis magnocellularis neurons in different age rats.
abstract: The present study investigated the effects of intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of acetylcholine (Ach), atropine and tubocurarine on the spontaneous activity of nucleus basalis Magnocellularis (nbM) neurons in young, adult and old rats. I.c.v. injection of Ach (1, 10 and 100 mM) dose-dependently increased the spontaneous firing rate in most of the nbM neurons (66.7%). The Ach-induced excitation effect on the spontaneous firing of nbM neurons was decreased with aging. I.c.v. injection of atropine (2.5, 25 and 250 mM) or tubocurarine (0.1, 1 and 10 mM) not only antagonized the Ach-induced excitation, but also inhibited the spontaneous firing of nbM neurons. The inhibitory effects were gradually decreased with aging. These results suggested that there might be some functional changes in nbM neurons with aging, which impair their responsive ability to stimuli of drugs.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Shanghai Medical University, 138 Yi Xue Yuan Road, 200032, People's Republic of, Shanghai, China. giriano@online.sh.cn
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mei
mesh_terms: D000109:Acetylcholine / Q000494:pharmacology; D000375:Aging / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001285:Atropine / Q000494:pharmacology; D020532:Basal Nucleus of Meynert / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D018678:Cholinergic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004594:Electrophysiology; D005260:Female; D007276:Injections, Intraventricular; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D014403:Tubocurarine / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D018678:Cholinergic Agents; D001285:Atropine; D000109:Acetylcholine; D014403:Tubocurarine