Reversal of visual attention dysfunction after AMPA lesions of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM) by the cholinesterase inhibitor donepezil and by a 5-HT1A receptor antagonist WAY 100635.

Rationale: Degeneration of the cholinergic magnocellular neurons in the basal forebrain and their cortical projections is a major feature of the neuropathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In addition to memory dysfunction, attentional functions are also impaired in AD.

Objective: We investigated the extent to which the cholinesterase inhibitor donepezil reversed the attentional performance deficit in nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM) lesioned rats.

Bartolomeo Panizza and the discovery of the brain's visual center.

In his work entitled "Osservazioni sul nervo ottico" (Observations on the Optic Nerve) published in 1855, Bartolomeo Panizza macroscopically traced the visual projection from the optic nerve to the cerebral structures, establishing the posterior cortex as the center for vision. This achievement was largely ignored by Panizza's contemporaries, and many years passed before his research was accorded the credit it deserved. This article provides both a profile of this eminent anatomo-physiologist and a historical reconstruction of the troubled course of his pioneering observations on the central pathway of the optic nerve.