"In the early 2000s, the drop in forebrain-wide production of ACh was thought to be a principal cause of a brain's progression to dementia. In the 1970s, physiological psychologists first demonstrated that ACh played a critical role in cortical plasticity processes underlying learning and memory. Researchers in my laboratory-and soon thereafter, in other laboratories-documented its specific role as a crucial enabler of brain-health-sustaining plasticity."
"The release of ACh increases electrical excitability for inputs feeding the attentionally engaged brain machinery. Brain plasticity (learning and memory) is critically dependent on ACh release. In parallel, medical scientists documented the devastating consequences of shutting down ACh expression by using chemicals that blocked ACh receptors in neurons, "supporting cells" in the cerebral cortex, in subcortical areas, and in the spinal cord."
Specific online speed-training upregulates forebrain-wide acetylcholine (ACh) production in humans, reversing a decade-long decline within ten weeks. ACh serves as a critical modulatory neurotransmitter essential for learning, memory, attention, and cortical plasticity. Declines in ACh production contribute to age-related cognitive loss and progression toward dementia. Pharmacological blockade of ACh receptors produces severe cognitive dysfunction comparable to advanced dementia. ACh release increases electrical excitability of attentionally engaged cortical inputs, enabling plasticity and learning. Casual, nonrigorous games do not produce measurable neurological or cognitive benefits. The INHANCE protocol produced measurable rejuvenation of ACh production across the forebrain.
Read at Psychology Today
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