MODULATORY CONTROL BY NONCOMPETITIVE AGONISTS OF NICOTINIC CHOLINERGIC NEUROTRANSMISSION IN THE CENTRAL-NERVOUS-SYSTEM

Several exogenous and endogenous compounds have been discovered that act on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors as non-competitive agonists (NCA) of low efficacy, and also as allosteric regulators of the receptor's sensitivity to acetylcholine. Nicotinic NCAs may be viewed as another facet in. the increasingly complex picture of vertebrate brain organization i.e. they may be part of a higher level 'chemical' network that overlays the neuronal network of the CNS. Furthermore, exogenous NCAs may provide a new therapeutic approach to Alzheimer's dementia.