nucleus basalis of Meynert

DeLong's own studies in primates, in which he damaged nerves leading from the nucleus basalis of Meynert to widespread regions of the cortex and then tried to use food to reward them for particular behaviour, suggested that the region may play an important role in learning.

Using staining techniques and toxins that specifically destroy individual nerve cells, neuroscientists have been able to trace the pathway of nerves that send acetylcholine signals in the higher cortex back to their origin, a small region of the forebrain known as the nucleus basalis of Meynert.

Nucleus basalis of Meynert, abbreviated NBM and also known as the nucleus basalis, is a group of neurons in the substantia innominata of the basal forebrain which has wide projections to the neocortex and is rich in acetylcholine and choline acetyltransferase.