Citation
Wenk, G. L., Mobley, S.L. (1996). Choline Acetyltransferase Activity and Vesamicol Binding in Rett Syndrome and in Rats with Nucleus Basalis Lesions. Neuroscience, 73(1), 79-84.
Summarization
Male Fisher rats between the ages of 3-24 months were used in this experiment. The test group recieved a bilateral NBM lesion and were injected with AMPA. The control group was only injected with saline solution. After surgery, they were given care and pain medications. After ten weeks post surgery, bilateral frontal sensorimotor and parietal occipital cortices samples were dissected. NBM Cholinergic cell loss was estimated and measured by decreasing cortical ChAT activity. For the RS portion of the study, brains were taken from 12 girls who died from neurological causes and 14 girls who died of non-neurological causes. A significant decrease in choline acetyltransferase activity was found in the lesion areas but not in the older rats. This meant that with increasing age there is no correlation to activity. However, despite lesioning the crucial areas, the brains adaoted and began to partake in that actvity elsewhere so no major loss of neurons occured. However in RS brains, as ChAT levels decreased, the acetylcholine pathways were directly decreased as well. This provides evidence of degenerating and weakening impaired development of cholinergic cells in RS patients. This makes them unable to adjust channel formation given a lack of healthy cells in the putamen area.