Effects of scopolamine on extracellular acetylcholine and choline levels and on spontaneous motor activity in freely moving rats measured by brain dialysis.

The present study demonstrates the feasibility of measuring acetylcholine (ACh) and choline in perfusate samples collected by in vivo brain dialysis in the frontal cortex and hippocampus of freely moving rats in which spontaneous motor activity could be measured simultaneously. Systemically administered scopolamine increased the output of ACh about 10-fold and 20-fold in the frontal cortex and hippocampus, respectively. By contrast, scopolamine decreased the choline level in the extracellular fluid about 2-fold in both brain regions, possibly owing to enhanced choline uptake into the presynaptic nerve terminals. Scopolamine also increased spontaneous motor activity over the same time course as the changes in ACh and choline. These results indicate that the in vivo brain dialysis technique applied to freely moving rats may be useful in investigating ACh turnover and in studying the relation between cholinergic transmission and behavioral functions.