ReviewBrain : a journal of neurology2018
The cholinergic system in the pathophysiology and treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
Review in Brain : a journal of neurology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 831 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
831 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 1,774 citations in OpenAlex.
- Concurrent Use of Anticholinergic and Antidementia Medicines in Older Adults with Dementia: A Systematic Review of Prevalence, Predictors and Clinical Outcomes.Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Pooled it
- Efficacy and possible mechanism ofFrontiers in pharmacology · 2026Pooled it
- Evidence of the Efficacy of Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors inCNS & neurological disorders drug targets · 2026Pooled it
- The comprehensive impact of exercise interventions on cognitive function and quality of life in alzheimer's disease patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC geriatrics · 2025Pooled it
- Natural Products in Alzheimer's Disease: A Systematic Review of Clinical Trials and Underlying Molecular Mechanisms.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Pooled it
- A phase 1, safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics study of bisnorcymserine, a highly selective inhibitor of butyrylcholinesterase.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2026Trial
- Dynamic Changes in Serum Choline Acetyltransferase and Acetylcholinesterase in Septic versus Non-Septic ICU Patients: A Prospective Exploratory Study.Journal of inflammation research · 2026Trial
- Pharmacokinetics and Bioavailability of a Novel Rivastigmine Nasal Spray Compared to Rivastigmine Oral Capsule in Healthy Men.Journal of clinical pharmacology · 2026Trial
- A phase 2 randomized, placebo-controlled study on the efficacy and safety of AR1001, a phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor, in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease.The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease · 2025Trial
- Bioequivalence of a Donepezil/Memantine 10/20 mg Fixed-Dose Combination Versus Single-Component Tablets in Healthy Korean Males.Clinical pharmacology in drug development · 2025Trial
- Redox modulation contributes to the antidepressant-like and neuroprotective effects of 7-chloro-4-(phenylselanyl)quinoline in an Alzheimer's disease model.Redox report : communications in free radical research · 2026Article
- From bench to brain: novel thieno-oxazine hybrids as potent pleiotropic anti-Alzheimer's agents withJournal of enzyme inhibition and medicinal chemistry · 2026Article
- Curcumin nanoformulations for modulating neuroinflammation and oxidative stress in Alzheimer's disease: blood-brain barrier transport, formulation strategies and therapeutic applications.Inflammopharmacology · 2026Review
- Investigating the molecular mechanisms underlying the neuroprotective potential of ellagic acid in scopolamine-induced learning and memory dysfunction.Research in pharmaceutical sciences · 2026Article
- Multi-functional bionic nanoparticles for precise neuronal targeting and synergistic therapy in Alzheimer's disease.Materials today. Bio · 2026Article
- Cholinergic impairment in the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus during experimental Alzheimer's disease.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Global brain activity links subcortical degeneration to cortical tau progressively across Braak regions over early Alzheimer's disease stages.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Design, synthesis and multitarget evaluation of cyclopropyl-appended thiohydantoin derivatives as dual cholinesterase and COX inhibitors with antioxidant activity: a combined experimental and computational study.Journal of computer-aided molecular design · 2026Article
- Early Neuroprotective Effects of Erucic Acid and Gentisic Acid on Hippocampal Glutamate Concentrations and Alzheimer-like Molecular Alterations in an Intracerebroventricular Streptozotocin Rat Model.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Post mortem MRI of cholinergic white matter pathways across neurodegenerative diseases.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
771 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 10 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Cholinergic synapses are ubiquitous in the human central nervous system. Their high density in the thalamus, striatum, limbic system, and neocortex suggest that cholinergic transmission is likely to be critically important for memory, learning, attention and other higher brain functions. Several lines of research suggest additional roles for cholinergic systems in overall brain homeostasis and plasticity. As such, the brain's cholinergic system occupies a central role in ongoing research related to normal cognition and age-related cognitive decline, including dementias such as Alzheimer's disease. The cholinergic hypothesis of Alzheimer's disease centres on the progressive loss of limbic and neocortical cholinergic innervation. Neurofibrillary degeneration in the basal forebrain is believed to be the primary cause for the dysfunction and death of forebrain cholinergic neurons, giving rise to a widespread presynaptic cholinergic denervation. Cholinesterase inhibitors increase the availability of acetylcholine at synapses in the brain and are one of the few drug therapies that have been proven clinically useful in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease dementia, thus validating the cholinergic system as an important therapeutic target in the disease. This review includes an overview of the role of the cholinergic system in cognition and an updated understanding of how cholinergic deficits in Alzheimer's disease interact with other aspects of disease pathophysiology, including plaques composed of amyloid-β proteins. This review also documents the benefits of cholinergic therapies at various stages of Alzheimer's disease and during long-term follow-up as visualized in novel imaging studies. The weight of the evidence supports the continued value of cholinergic drugs as a standard, cornerstone pharmacological approach in Alzheimer's disease, particularly as we look ahead to future combination therapies that address symptoms as well as disease progression.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.