CENTRAL CHOLINERGIC TRANSMISSION: BEHAVIORAL ASPECTS OF CHOLINERGIC TRANSMISSION.
Abstract
It can be argued that the ultimate criterion for establishing a relation between the cholinergic system and a particular behavior pattern would be demonstration that arousal of or changes in the behavior occur following release of ACh, a criterion analogous to that for establishing the existence of chemical transmission at an interneuronal or a neuron-neuroeffector site. This criterion would require the collection of ACh and its quantitative assessment during the same period when the behavior was being measured, a technological feat beyond our present capabilities. It is necessary to fall back upon procedures which have provided indirect evidence for cholinergic transmission. These are pharmacological in nature, using drugs as 'tools' to alter the cholinergic system in some specified manner or to mimic the role of ACh. The operational definition of the phrase, 'relation between the cholinergic system and behavior,' is in terms of concomitant variation between these two classes of variables. The paper begins by considering logical and methodological issues in the search for such relations: specification and measurement of neurochemical and behavioral variables; manipulation of variables; and localization in experimental variation of the neurochemical system. A discussion of examples from the research literature illustrates current trends in the search. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1968
- Accession Number
- AD0670798
Entities
People
- Roger W. Russell
Organizations
- University of California, Irvine