[Pathogenesis of the basal forebrain cholinergic dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease]

Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder which is the most common cause of dementia. Studies in last decades allowed identifying the main pathogenetic patterns that can be summarized in three main components which are cholinergic dysfunction, impairment of synaptic plasticity in the neocortex and hippocampal formation, and neuron death in these brain structures. Further study of Alzheimer's disease and development of treatment approaches require generalizations of knowledge on each of these components accumulated to date. In this review, literature data on the first of these components were summarized and current conception on the pathogenesis of cholinergic dysfunction was described.