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Nucleus basalis of Meynert pathology in the human brain after fatal head injury

Nucleus basalis of Meynert pathology in the human brain after fatal head injury
Nucleus basalis of Meynert pathology in the human brain after fatal head injury
Dysfunction of the basal forebrain cholinergic system has been hypothesized to contribute to deficits of memory and cognition after head injury. We have previously reported reduced levels of choline acetyltransferase activity in the cerebral cortex of patients who died after a head injury, demonstrating that there is a loss of cortical cholinergic innervation. In the present study, we examined the nucleus basalis of Meynert (NBM), which provides cortical cholinergic innervation, in fatally head-injured patients and in controls. The majority of head-injured patients had histological evidence of neuronal damage in the NBM, which was due to mechanical distortion of the tissue and/or ischemic damage. The findings demonstrate that the NBM is vulnerable after severe head injury and that secondary insults play an important role in the damage. Thus, both neuronal perikarya and terminals of the basal forebrain cholinergic system are damaged after human fatal head injury. This damage may contribute to persisting dysfunction of memory and cognition in head-injured patients who survive.
acetylcholine, basal forebrain, head injury
0897-7151
279-284
Murdoch, Iain
f743b0e2-b950-48a2-b701-6ba3a89245aa
Nicoll, James A.R.
88c0685f-000e-4eb7-8f72-f36b4985e8ed
Graham, David I.
78b6fc95-f3f7-48de-aecc-5188bca7692a
Dewar, Deborah
eda0cc13-11d5-48f4-9c58-5f3aa1d12aa5
Murdoch, Iain
f743b0e2-b950-48a2-b701-6ba3a89245aa
Nicoll, James A.R.
88c0685f-000e-4eb7-8f72-f36b4985e8ed
Graham, David I.
78b6fc95-f3f7-48de-aecc-5188bca7692a
Dewar, Deborah
eda0cc13-11d5-48f4-9c58-5f3aa1d12aa5

Murdoch, Iain, Nicoll, James A.R., Graham, David I. and Dewar, Deborah (2002) Nucleus basalis of Meynert pathology in the human brain after fatal head injury. Journal of Neurotrauma, 19 (2), 279-284.

Record type: Article

Abstract

Dysfunction of the basal forebrain cholinergic system has been hypothesized to contribute to deficits of memory and cognition after head injury. We have previously reported reduced levels of choline acetyltransferase activity in the cerebral cortex of patients who died after a head injury, demonstrating that there is a loss of cortical cholinergic innervation. In the present study, we examined the nucleus basalis of Meynert (NBM), which provides cortical cholinergic innervation, in fatally head-injured patients and in controls. The majority of head-injured patients had histological evidence of neuronal damage in the NBM, which was due to mechanical distortion of the tissue and/or ischemic damage. The findings demonstrate that the NBM is vulnerable after severe head injury and that secondary insults play an important role in the damage. Thus, both neuronal perikarya and terminals of the basal forebrain cholinergic system are damaged after human fatal head injury. This damage may contribute to persisting dysfunction of memory and cognition in head-injured patients who survive.

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More information

Published date: 2002
Keywords: acetylcholine, basal forebrain, head injury

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 27669
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/27669
ISSN: 0897-7151
PURE UUID: 7f2c47b8-f5b8-416e-bb13-5f12af455dbd
ORCID for James A.R. Nicoll: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9444-7246

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Date deposited: 25 Apr 2006
Last modified: 09 Jan 2022 03:09

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Contributors

Author: Iain Murdoch
Author: David I. Graham
Author: Deborah Dewar

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