Acetylcholine: oscillation of levels in mouse brain following electroshock

The acetylcholine contents of mouse brain regions were measured in order to investigate the response of cholinergic neurons to electroshock. In this study, mice were subjected to electroshock and then sacrificed by microwave irradiation at time intervals of from 0.4 to 6.9 a after electroshock. In all of the brain regions studied, the acetylcholine concentration appeared to oscillate with a mean period of approximately 2.5 a following electroshock. The rate of recovery of acetylcholine after electroshock was calculated for each brain region from the oscillatory equation obtained by nonlinear regression analysis of the experimental data. The rates of synthesis of acetylcholine derived from these in vivo measurements were substantially higher than have been indicated by other methods.