ABSTRACT
The cholinergic system plays a most relevant role in the central and peripheral (both parasympathetic and somatic) nervous systems and controls most organ functions, motor activity, and higher brain functions, such as memory or emotions. Damage to the cholinergic system is believed to play a primary role in neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, or muscular disorders such as myasthenia gravis. There are two major receptor families that bind the neurotransmitter acetylcholine: nicotinic and muscarinic. Both can be targeted by a variety of compounds of pharmacological, as well as toxicological, relevance. This chapter focusses on the family of cholinergic muscarinic receptors and discusses a number of chemicals that may exert neurotoxicity by affecting either directly or indirectly their number, characteristics or functions.
