IUBio

acetylcholine's affect on thought

Bill Skaggs bill at nsma.arizona.edu
Fri Jul 21 16:02:33 EST 1995


David Lee <74467.3257 at CompuServe.COM> writes:
   I am searching for info and have yet to find any on psych lit re: 
   the affect of acetylcholine on one's thought processes. I've read 
   [but without citations] that a cholinergic dominated brain/mind 
   state results in loss of reality testing and loosening of 
   associations. Is there any experimental evidence of this, and if 
   so, how would it work.

The literature on this topic is very extensive, but you might have
better luck searching on MedLine than PsychLit.  The hypothesis you
state is backwards, though.  There is plenty of evidence that
scopolamine (sometimes known as "truth serum") and other
anticholinergic drugs give rise to amnesia and delirium, including
loss of reality testing and loosening of associations.  This was known
as long ago as the 1950's.

	-- Bill



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