Alterations in atropine sites of the brain of rats as a function of age

Binding of (³H)-atropine to synaptosomal fractions prepared from cerebral and cerebellar cortices of young, adult and old male and female rats were studied. Picomoles of labelled atropine bound/mg protein was highest in the cerebral cortex of young rats and decreased with increasing age in both sexes, whereas in cerebellar cortex the peak binding was in adult rats. Acetylcholinesterase activity of the same fractions showed corresponding changes with age.