NGF and cholinergic control of behavior: anticipation and enhancement of scopolamine effects in neonatal mice.

Male mouse pups of the Swiss-CD1 strain received on postnatal days 2 and 4 either an intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) administration of 30 micrograms murine nerve growth factor (NGF) or cytochrome c. Pups were then tested for suckling behavior on their anesthetized multiparous dam on day 5, following intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration of either the muscarinic cholinergic antagonist scopolamine (2 mg/kg) or saline solution (0.9%). Scopolamine produced a significant increase in latency time to suckle, while reducing the time pups spent attached to the nipple. NGF exposure enhanced scopolamine effects on latency to suckle as well as on time spent attached to the nipple. More striking, NGF pups showed a marked hyperactivity after scopolamine, an effect which normally appears only around weaning time. These results support the hypothesis that NGF plays a crucial role in the functional maturation of central cholinergic mechanisms involved in the control of behavior.