A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE CHOLINESTERASE ACTIVITY OF THE VERTEBRATE NERVOUS SYSTEM, WITH ESPECIAL REFERENCE TO ITS RELATIONSHIP TO MOTOR ABILITY

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Abstract
An attempt was made to examine the relationship between the cholinesterase activity of the C.N.S. and the general motor ability of a number of animals re- presenting 3 classes of vertebrates. The animals included in the study were the gold fish, sucker, and shiner representing fishes; necturus and frog representing amphibia; and the turtle, horned lizard, and collared lizard from the reptile class. The enzymatic activity was measured from cell free suspensions obtained by grinding the whole brain and part of the spinal cord in a glycine-NaOH buffer soln. A microchemical method which involved the titration of the acid equivalent (ml. 0.01 N HC1) formed, the hydrolysis of the substrate acetylcholine was used to determine the activity of the cholinesterase. The enzymatic activity was computed as a function of the cell, for a unit of the nuclear surface, and for a unit of the whole mass. A consistent relationship appears to exist between the cholinesterase activity of the central nervous system and the general motor ability of the animal within each of the classes.