Local cerebral glucose utilization following unilateral and bilateral lesions of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis in the rat

To investigate to what extent the loss of cholinergic projections to the neocortex results in functional impairment in the target areas, local rates of cerebral glucose utilization were measured following excitotoxin lesions of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM) in the rat. Both unilateral and bilateral lesions of NBM resulted in reversible depression of cerebral metabolism. The effects of unilateral lesions were limited to the cortical areas which receive most of the cholinergic projections from NBM. The metabolic defect produced by bilateral lesions was spread to the whole brain. Within 4 months, however, normal metabolic values coexisted with marked changes of the presynaptic cholinergic markers and impairment of conditioned behavior.