What Is Acetylcholine?

Acetylcholine is found in egg yolks and helps keep our memories sharp. It is found in the nerve cells and helps brain chemicals known as neurotransmitters move across the distance between two nerve cells.
Acetylcholine is necessary for healthy communication between nerve cells in the brain and for healthy memory.

Identification

• Acetylcholine was the first brain chemical or neurotransmitter to be isolated. Henry Hallet Dale identified it in 1914, describing its ability to activate heart cells. Otto Loewi named it "vagusstoff" as it was released from the vagus nerve.
  Acetylcholine is important in both the central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral nervous system (PNS). In the CNS it creates activating impulses, and in the PNS it is a neurotransmitter.

Significance

• Acetylcholine helps the brain send nerve impulses to contract large skeletal muscles and also sends nerve impulses to lessen heart tissue contraction.
  As a major neurotransmitter, acetylcholine helps nerve impulses communicate with one another by moving messages across the synaptic cleft (the space between nerve cells).

Features

• Acetylcholine is needed in all individuals to have healthy signals between nerve cells in the brain that also move out to the larger skeletal muscles.
  Low levels of acetylcholine have been noted in Alzheimer's disease.
  Acetylcholine is necessary for learning and to preserve short-term memory.

Considerations

• To understand the importance of acetylcholine, consider that its absence can result in the inability to contract larger muscles and the heart ceasing to beat.
  Some neurons, or nerve cells, create acetylcholine using the enzyme choline acetyltransferase, made from acetyl-CoA and choline.
  In the body, this enzyme clears the bloodstream of free acetylcholine. If it is inhibited by neurotoxins, the muscles that control breathing and the beating of the heart may be halted.

Warning

• If you have a family history of Alzheimer's disease, continue to have regular physical exams. If you have obvious short-term memory loss or are taking any medications that might interfere with acetylcholine levels in the brain, see your doctor.
  The disease myasthenia gravis occurs when the body produces antibodies that destroy or inhibit acetylcholine receptors in the body, and the motor nerve cells governing gross physical movements are damaged. Medications can be prescribed to prevent this damage.