AbstractsBiology & Animal Science

Interest in acetylcholine (ACh) as a chemical transmitter in the central nervous system was developed many years ago when attempts were made to determine the mechanism of transmission of impulses occurring (a) across ganglionic synapses and (b) from motor nerve endings to the motor endplates of skeletal muscle. Although ACh was synthesized in 1867 (1) and Elliott in 1904 (2) firmly suggested the concept of humoral transmission when he found marked functional similarities between the effects of sympathetic nervous stimulation and that of adrenaline action, it was not until 1906, that Hunt and Taveau (3) proved ACh to be a nerve depressor.