Topic: mecamylamine

Around 280 million people worldwide suffer from depression. However, treatment for this mood disorder is ineffective in 30% of patients. An important target for the treatment of depression is the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN), which is the main source of serotonin (5-HT) to the forebrain. Previous research has shown that mecamylamine (Mec) increases the activity of 5-HT neurons by enhancing glutamate release through activation of α4β2 nicotinic receptors (nAChRs), while inhibiting GABAergic release by inhibiting α7 nAChRs in the DRN. This mechanism may explain its antidepressant properties. Howev

Cholinergic dysfunction contributes to attentional deficits in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), schizophrenia, and dementia. Cortical cholinergic inputs are fundamentally linked to attention and phasic acetylcholine (Ach) release causally mediates performance in tasks involving monitoring for cues, cue detection, and cue-directed responding.We investigated the role of muscarinic and nicotinic ACh receptors (mAChRs and nAChRs) in attentional performance by applying systemic manipulations in adult male and female Sprague-Dawley rats during the Signal Detection Task. In this task,