Recovery of neocortical choline acetyltransferase activity following ibotenic acid injection into the nucleus basalis of Meynert in rats.

The present experiment was designed to investigate the depletion and possible recovery of neocortical choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) levels following damage to the basal forebrain cholinergic (Ch) system in rats. A unilateral injection of ibotenic acid was made into the left nucleus basalis of Meynert (nbM). Seven days after the injection, neocortical ChAT levels had decreased 60%. After 3 months it had returned to normal. Thus this system shows extensive plasticity and recovery of function with time.