To date, cholinergic abnormalities have been reported only in the central nervous system of SIDS victims: reduced muscarinic binding has been shown in the arcuate nucleus [7], a decrease in choline acetyltransferase immunoreactivity, a specific marker of the cholinergic neurons, has been observed in the brainstem [8] and alterations in nicotinic binding have been observed in brainstem nuclei of children exposed to maternal smoking during pregnancy [10]. The gene discussed is CHAT; the disease is sudden infant death syndrome.