Abstract: his article reviews the effects of the central cholinergic system on the addiction of the morphine and the related mechanisms. A considerable amount of research results show that morphine induces changes in release of extracellular acetylcholine in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and other brain areas. It was also reported that cholinergic cell ablation in the NAc or the striatum enhances the addiction of morphine by using immunotoxin-mediated cell targeting. The cholinergic agonists and antagonists can both interfere with the addiction of morphine but the mechanism may be different. The former probably exerts addiction of morphine through the interaction of the cholinergic system and the dopaminergic system. The latter perhaps works in the way of blocking the memory or accelerating the metabolism of morphine. Cholinergic receptor plays a important role in the addiction of morphine

Key words: Morphine, addiction, acetylcholine, cholinergic agonists, cholinergic antagonists