Brain research
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Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by the classical hallmarks of Aβ-deposition and tau-pathology that are thought to ultimately lead to synapse and neuron loss. Although long known, neuroinflammation has recently attracted a substantial amount of attention by researchers due to genome wide association studies (GWAS) that identified microglia associated genes to be correlated with sporadic AD. Besides that, cholinergic degeneration and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) abnormalities have been identified in the brains of AD patients already decades ago, but have not received much attention over the last ten years. ⋯ In this context, an imbalance between excitation and inhibition has been hypothesized to contribute to neuronal network dysfunction. Here, disturbances of cholinergic and GABAergic transmission might play a crucial role. In this review, we will focus on GABAergic dysfunction in AD and mouse models of AD and how those might relate to neuronal network aberration and memory impairment.