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What Is Acetylcholine & What Does it Do?

Acetylcholine is the main neurotransmitter of the “rest-and-digest” or parasympathetic nervous system. As a central messenger of this response, acetylcholine counteracts “fight-or-flight” tendencies and drives cholinergic activity in the body. The brain makes acetylcholine from choline, which is commonly found in food.

Science has revealed a lot about the function of acetylcholine since its discovery over a century ago. From alertness to cognition to digestion, acetylcholine plays diverse roles. Experimental studies suggest it might also have pain-relieving, anti-inflammatory, and hormone-balancing properties, but further research is needed to confirm this.

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Articles of Interest

About Acetylcholine: Neurotransmitter for Memory and Focus

Acetylcholine was the first molecule to be identified as a neurotransmitter, a chemical that neurons use to communicate with each other. Otto Loewi, the German scientist who discovered acetylcholine, originally called it vagusstoff (vagus substance) because it was released by the body’s longest nerve, the vagus nerve. He eventually won a Nobel Prize for this discovery.

Acetylcholine Molecule

The chemical compound acetylcholine has the chemical formula C7H16NO2 and molecular mass 146.21 g/mol. It is (often abbreviated ACh) is a neurotransmitter in both the peripheral nervous system (PNS) and central nervous system (CNS) in many organisms including humans. Acetylcholine is one of many neurotransmitters in the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and the only neurotransmitter used in the somatic nervous system. It is also the neurotransmitter in all autonomic ganglia.

Acetylcholine Neurotransmission in the Nervous System

When acetylcholine is released from the axon terminals, it binds to specific proteins called acetylcholine receptors on neighboring neurons or on other types of cells, like muscle cells. When acetylcholine binds to its receptor, it causes a change in the protein structure, opening a channel through which Na+ ions4 move (with the concentration gradient) inside the cell. The influx of Na+ generates a membrane current that triggers a new electrical impulse.

Acetylcholine: A Representative Small Molecule Neurotransmitter

Acetylcholine (ACh), the first neurotransmitter ever to be identified, is a small- molecule excitatory neurotransmitter with a wide variety of known functions. In the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems and at all neuromuscular junctions, ACh is used to signal muscle movement. Within the central nervous system, cholinergic cells (neurons that use ACh as a neurotransmitter) are found in several different locations of the brain, including the striatal complex, the basal forebrain, the diencephalon, pontomesencephalic cell groups, and the medulla. Depending on which area of the brain it is found in, ACh may be involved in any one of several different functions. Some of these functions include the conduction of pain, the regulation of neuroendocrine function, the regulation of REM sleep cycles, and the process of learning and memory formation.

Acetylcholine: How and Why to Optimize the Synthesis of this Vital Neurotransmitter

We couldn't live without acetylcholine (ACh). It's an important neurotransmitter within the body and, in fact, was the very first neurotransmitter discovered. The moving title of this article was chosen to impress upon the reader the importance of this neurotransmitter to processes within the body that require movement, from skeletal muscle or smooth muscle.

Discovery of the First Neurotransmitter Receptor: The Acetylcholine Nicotinic Receptor

The structural identification of the nAChR as the first membrane receptor for a neurotransmitter involved several laboratories throughout the world. Yet, its first biochemical identification from fish electric organ, was made in Europe. Subsequently several receptors were isolated and identified for different neurotransmitters again in Europe...

What Is Acetylcholine?

Acetylcholine has numerous functions in the body. It can be found in all motor neurons, where it stimulates muscles to contract. From the movements of the stomach and heart to the blink of an eye, all of the body's movements involve the actions of this important neurotransmitter.

“Highlights of the Acetylcholine Neurotransmitter System”

It is the first neurotransmitter to be discovered. • Acetyl Choline (Ach) is secreted by many nerves in the autonomic nervous system...

Resources

NIH

Acetylcholine is the neurotransmitter at neuromuscular junctions, at synapses in the ganglia of the visceral motor system, and at a variety of sites within the central nervous system. Whereas a great deal is known about the function of cholinergic transmission at the neuromuscular junction and at ganglionic synapses, the actions of ACh in the central nervous system are not as well understood.

Physiopedia

Acetylcholine (ACh), the first neurotransmitter discovered, is now known to be a neurotransmitter at the neuromuscular junction, all autonomic ganglia, at many autonomically innervated organs, and at many synapses in the CNS. ACh is stored in vesicles at the ends of cholinergic (acetylcholine-producing) neurons. While acetylcholine levels work for many functions, it is most commonly associated with memory, cognition, and sleep. It is deficient in the brains of those with late-stage Alzheimer disease.

StatPearls

The name "acetylcholine" is derived from its chemical structure, as it is an ester of acetic acid and choline. Tissues of the body that use this chemical messenger or are responsive to it are referred to as cholinergic.