Cholinergic neuron

Internal medicine

Psychology

Neuroscience

Cholinergic

Rivastigmine

Neurodegeneration

Disease

Dementia

Donepezil

Pathogenesis

Cholinergic system

Alzheimer's disease

Medicine

The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer s Disease

Scientific evidence collected over the past 4 decades suggests that a loss of cholinergic innervation in the cerebral cortex of patients with Alzheimer’s disease is an early pathogenic event correlated with cognitive impairment. This evidence led to the formulation of the “Cholinergic Hypothesis of AD” and the development of cholinesterase inhibitor therapies. Although approved only as symptomatic therapies, recent studies suggest that long-term use of these drugs may also have disease-modifying benefits. A Cholinergic System Workgroup reassessed the role of the cholinergic system on AD pathogenesis in light of recent data, including neuroimaging data charting the progression of neurodegeneration in the cholinergic system and suggesting that cholinergic therapy may slow brain atrophy. Other pathways that contribute to cholinergic synaptic loss and their effect on cognitive impairment in AD were also reviewed. These studies indicate that the cholinergic system as one of several interacting systems failures that contribute to AD pathogenesis.

REVISITING THE CHOLINERGIC HYPOTHESIS IN ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE: EMERGING EVIDENCE FROM TRANSLATIONAL AND CLINICAL RESEARCH