Summary
Serotonin is a major modulatory neurotransmitter in the brain. Activation of serotonin receptors causes suppression of spontaneous activity in the hippocampus and an enhancement of evoked responses to afferent stimulation. Depletion of serotonin reduces the ability of the hippocampus to express long-term potentiation of the responses to afferent stimulation following a tetanic stimulation. Serotonin depletion by itself does not affect spatial memory ability of rats but when combined with a partial suppression of cholinergic neurotransmission there is a marked impairment of the ability to negotiate a spatial memory task.
A serotonin-containing transplant can incorporate into a serotonin-depleted host hippocampus; the grafted serotonin neurons will form connections with the host hippocampus and activation of the graft will produce effects in the host hippocampus akin to those produced in normal, but not in serotonin-depleted, brains. A serotonin-containing raphe graft can ameliorate cognitive deficits caused by a combined interruption of cholinergic and serotonergic neurotransmission. Thus, serotonin can interact with the cholinergic system to regulate cognitive functions associated with the hippocampus. This interaction is likely to take place in the hippocampus.
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© 1989 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Segal, M., Richter-Levin, G., Greenberger, V., Shpiegelman, R. (1989). Neural Grafts and Neurotransmitter Interactions in Cognitive Deficits. In: Gage, F.H., Privat, A., Christen, Y. (eds) Neuronal Grafting and Alzheimer’s Disease. Research and Perspectives in Alzheimer’s Disease. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-48369-1_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-48369-1_13
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