THE ROLE OF THE BASAL FOREBRAIN CHOLINERGIC DYSFUNCTION IN PATHOGENESIS OF DECLARATIVE MEMORY DISORDER IN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE
Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of the declarative memory disorder: 30—40 % cases of dementia among all of age groups, and 50—60 % among the people older 65 years. In addition, disorder of declarative memory is the genuine symptom of the disease, which certainly appears on early stage of the disease and it is an obligate diagnostic symptom. Proponents of the «cholinergic theory» of pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease suggest that the basis disorder of declarative memory is cholinergic dysfunction. Several neurodynamic mechanisms associated with declarative memory depend on the level of acetylcholine in hippocampus and neocortex. It is believed that dysfunction of the basal cholinergic system in Alzheimer's disease leads to the impairment of these mechanisms. In this review, we summarize available literature data concerning the mechanisms of Alzheimer's disease.