Cholinomimetic and anticholinergic drugs used to investigate an acetylcholine hypothesis of affective disorders and stress

Abstract

Abstract The cholinomimetic agents, physostigmine, neostigmine, and arecoline, and the anticholinergic agents, atropine, scopolamine, and methscopolamine, have been used to explore an acetylcholine hypothesis of affect disorders and stress. Cholinomimetic drugs cause many of the same effects as do naturally occurring stressors. These include increases in negative affect, the induction of affective disorders, increases in stress neuroendocrines including ACThH, cortisol, beta‐endorphin, growth hormone, prolactin, epinephrine, and noprepinephrine, increases in blood pressure and pulse rate, and increases in analgesia. These parallel effects, combined with the effect of stress on central acetylcholine activity, suggest a stress‐acetylcholine linkage.