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Electrical stimulation of the nucleus basalis of meynert: a systematic review of preclinical and clinical data. Sci Rep 2021; 11:11751. [PMID: 34083732 PMCID: PMC8175342 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-91391-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2021] [Accepted: 05/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the nucleus basalis of Meynert (NBM) has been clinically investigated in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Lewy body dementia (LBD). However, the clinical effects are highly variable, which questions the suggested basic principles underlying these clinical trials. Therefore, preclinical and clinical data on the design of NBM stimulation experiments and its effects on behavioral and neurophysiological aspects are systematically reviewed here. Animal studies have shown that electrical stimulation of the NBM enhanced cognition, increased the release of acetylcholine, enhanced cerebral blood flow, released several neuroprotective factors, and facilitates plasticity of cortical and subcortical receptive fields. However, the translation of these outcomes to current clinical practice is hampered by the fact that mainly animals with an intact NBM were used, whereas most animals were stimulated unilaterally, with different stimulation paradigms for only restricted timeframes. Future animal research has to refine the NBM stimulation methods, using partially lesioned NBM nuclei, to better resemble the clinical situation in AD, and LBD. More preclinical data on the effect of stimulation of lesioned NBM should be present, before DBS of the NBM in human is explored further.
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2
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Yang D, Ding C, Qi G, Feldmeyer D. Cholinergic and Adenosinergic Modulation of Synaptic Release. Neuroscience 2020; 456:114-130. [PMID: 32540364 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2020.06.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2020] [Revised: 05/29/2020] [Accepted: 06/01/2020] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
In this review we will discuss the effect of two neuromodulatory transmitters, acetylcholine (ACh) and adenosine, on the synaptic release probability and short-term synaptic plasticity. ACh and adenosine differ fundamentally in the way they are released into the extracellular space. ACh is released mostly from synaptic terminals and axonal bouton of cholinergic neurons in the basal forebrain (BF). Its mode of action on synaptic release probability is complex because it activate both ligand-gated ion channels, so-called nicotinic ACh receptors and G-protein coupled muscarinic ACh receptors. In contrast, adenosine is released from both neurons and glia via nucleoside transporters or diffusion over the cell membrane in a non-vesicular, non-synaptic fashion; its receptors are exclusively G-protein coupled receptors. We show that ACh and adenosine effects are highly specific for an identified synaptic connection and depend mostly on the presynaptic but also on the postsynaptic receptor type and discuss the functional implications of these differences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Danqing Yang
- Research Centre Juelich, Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine 10, Leo-Brandt-Strasse, Juelich, Germany
| | - Chao Ding
- Research Centre Juelich, Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine 10, Leo-Brandt-Strasse, Juelich, Germany
| | - Guanxiao Qi
- Research Centre Juelich, Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine 10, Leo-Brandt-Strasse, Juelich, Germany
| | - Dirk Feldmeyer
- Research Centre Juelich, Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine 10, Leo-Brandt-Strasse, Juelich, Germany; RWTH Aachen University Hospital, Pauwelsstrasse 30, Aachen, Germany; Jülich-Aachen Research Alliance Brain - JARA Brain, Germany.
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3
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Herrero JL, Gieselmann MA, Thiele A. Muscarinic and Nicotinic Contribution to Contrast Sensitivity of Macaque Area V1 Neurons. Front Neural Circuits 2017; 11:106. [PMID: 29311843 PMCID: PMC5742228 DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2017.00106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2017] [Accepted: 12/11/2017] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Acetylcholine is a neuromodulator that shapes information processing in different cortical and subcortical areas. Cell type and location specific cholinergic receptor distributions suggest that acetylcholine in macaque striate cortex should boost feed-forward driven activity, while also reducing population excitability by increasing inhibitory tone. Studies using cholinergic agonists in anesthetized primate V1 have yielded conflicting evidence for such a proposal. Here we investigated how muscarinic or nicotinic receptor blockade affect neuronal excitability and contrast response functions in awake macaque area V1. Muscarinic or nicotinic receptor blockade caused reduced activity for all contrasts tested, without affecting the contrast where neurons reach their half maximal response (c50). The activity reduction upon muscarinic and nicotinic blockade resulted in reduced neuronal contrast sensitivity, as assessed through neurometric functions. In the majority of cells receptor blockade was best described by a response gain model (a multiplicative scaling of responses), indicating that ACh is involved in signal enhancement, not saliency filtering in macaque V1.
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4
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Daulatzai MA. Dysfunctional Sensory Modalities, Locus Coeruleus, and Basal Forebrain: Early Determinants that Promote Neuropathogenesis of Cognitive and Memory Decline and Alzheimer’s Disease. Neurotox Res 2016; 30:295-337. [DOI: 10.1007/s12640-016-9643-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2016] [Revised: 06/08/2016] [Accepted: 06/10/2016] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
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5
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Chaves-Coira I, Barros-Zulaica N, Rodrigo-Angulo M, Núñez Á. Modulation of Specific Sensory Cortical Areas by Segregated Basal Forebrain Cholinergic Neurons Demonstrated by Neuronal Tracing and Optogenetic Stimulation in Mice. Front Neural Circuits 2016; 10:28. [PMID: 27147975 PMCID: PMC4837153 DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2016.00028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2016] [Accepted: 03/29/2016] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Neocortical cholinergic activity plays a fundamental role in sensory processing and cognitive functions. Previous results have suggested a refined anatomical and functional topographical organization of basal forebrain (BF) projections that may control cortical sensory processing in a specific manner. We have used retrograde anatomical procedures to demonstrate the existence of specific neuronal groups in the BF involved in the control of specific sensory cortices. Fluoro-Gold (FlGo) and Fast Blue (FB) fluorescent retrograde tracers were deposited into the primary somatosensory (S1) and primary auditory (A1) cortices in mice. Our results revealed that the BF is a heterogeneous area in which neurons projecting to different cortical areas are segregated into different neuronal groups. Most of the neurons located in the horizontal limb of the diagonal band of Broca (HDB) projected to the S1 cortex, indicating that this area is specialized in the sensory processing of tactile stimuli. However, the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (B) nucleus shows a similar number of cells projecting to the S1 as to the A1 cortices. In addition, we analyzed the cholinergic effects on the S1 and A1 cortical sensory responses by optogenetic stimulation of the BF neurons in urethane-anesthetized transgenic mice. We used transgenic mice expressing the light-activated cation channel, channelrhodopsin-2, tagged with a fluorescent protein (ChR2-YFP) under the control of the choline-acetyl transferase promoter (ChAT). Cortical evoked potentials were induced by whisker deflections or by auditory clicks. According to the anatomical results, optogenetic HDB stimulation induced more extensive facilitation of tactile evoked potentials in S1 than auditory evoked potentials in A1, while optogenetic stimulation of the B nucleus facilitated either tactile or auditory evoked potentials equally. Consequently, our results suggest that cholinergic projections to the cortex are organized into segregated pools of neurons that may modulate specific cortical areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irene Chaves-Coira
- Departamento de Anatomía, Histología y Neurociencia, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Madrid, Spain
| | - Natali Barros-Zulaica
- Departamento de Anatomía, Histología y Neurociencia, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Madrid, Spain
| | - Margarita Rodrigo-Angulo
- Departamento de Anatomía, Histología y Neurociencia, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Madrid, Spain
| | - Ángel Núñez
- Departamento de Anatomía, Histología y Neurociencia, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Madrid, Spain
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6
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Stoelzel CR, Huff JM, Bereshpolova Y, Zhuang J, Hei X, Alonso JM, Swadlow HA. Hour-long adaptation in the awake early visual system. J Neurophysiol 2015; 114:1172-82. [PMID: 26108950 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00116.2015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2015] [Accepted: 06/16/2015] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Sensory adaptation serves to adjust awake brains to changing environments on different time scales. However, adaptation has been studied traditionally under anesthesia and for short time periods. Here, we demonstrate in awake rabbits a novel type of sensory adaptation that persists for >1 h and acts on visual thalamocortical neurons and their synapses in the input layers of the visual cortex. Following prolonged visual stimulation (10-30 min), cells in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) show a severe and prolonged reduction in spontaneous firing rate. This effect is bidirectional, and prolonged visually induced response suppression is followed by a prolonged increase in spontaneous activity. The reduction in thalamic spontaneous activity following prolonged visual activation is accompanied by increases in 1) response reliability, 2) signal detectability, and 3) the ratio of visual signal/spontaneous activity. In addition, following such prolonged activation of an LGN neuron, the monosynaptic currents generated by thalamic impulses in layer 4 of the primary visual cortex are enhanced. These results demonstrate that in awake brains, prolonged sensory stimulation can have a profound, long-lasting effect on the information conveyed by thalamocortical inputs to the visual cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carl R Stoelzel
- Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut; and
| | - Joseph M Huff
- Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut; and
| | - Yulia Bereshpolova
- Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut; and
| | - Jun Zhuang
- Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut; and
| | - Xiaojuan Hei
- Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut; and
| | - Jose-Manuel Alonso
- Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut; and Department of Biological Sciences, State University of New York, New York, New York
| | - Harvey A Swadlow
- Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut; and Department of Biological Sciences, State University of New York, New York, New York
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Knott V, Impey D, Choueiry J, Smith D, de la Salle S, Saghir S, Smith M, Beaudry E, Ilivitsky V, Labelle A. An acute dose, randomized trial of the effects of CDP-Choline on Mismatch Negativity (MMN) in healthy volunteers stratified by deviance detection level. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2015. [DOI: 10.1186/s40810-014-0002-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
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8
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Martin-Cortecero J, Nuñez A. Tactile response adaptation to whisker stimulation in the lemniscal somatosensory pathway of rats. Brain Res 2014; 1591:27-37. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2014.10.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2014] [Revised: 09/17/2014] [Accepted: 10/01/2014] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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9
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Barros-Zulaica N, Castejon C, Nuñez A. Frequency-specific response facilitation of supra and infragranular barrel cortical neurons depends on NMDA receptor activation in rats. Neuroscience 2014; 281:178-94. [PMID: 25281880 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.09.057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2014] [Revised: 09/25/2014] [Accepted: 09/26/2014] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Sensory experience has a profound effect on neocortical neurons. Passive stimulation of whiskers or sensory deprivation from whiskers can induce long-lasting changes in neuronal responses or modify the receptive field in adult animals. We recorded barrel cortical neurons in urethane-anesthetized rats in layers 2/3 or 5/6 to determine if repetitive stimulation would induce long-lasting response facilitation. Air-puff stimulation (20-ms duration, 40 pulses at 0.5-8Hz) was applied to a single whisker. This repetitive stimulation increased tactile responses in layers 2/3 and 5/6 for 60min. Moreover, the functional coupling (coherence) between the sensory stimulus and the neural response also increased after the repetitive stimulation in neurons showing response facilitation. The long-lasting response facilitation was due to activation of N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors because it was reduced by APV ((2R)-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid, (2R)-amino-5-phosphonopentanoate) and MK801 application. Inactivation of layer 2/3 also blocked response facilitation in layer 5/6, suggesting that layer 2/3 may be fundamental in this synaptic plasticity processes. Moreover, i.p. injection of eserine augmented the number of layer 2/3 neurons expressing long-lasting response facilitation; this effect was blocked by atropine, suggesting that muscarinic receptor activation favors the induction of the response facilitation. Our data indicate that physiologically repetitive stimulation of a single whisker at the frequency at which rats move their whiskers during exploration of the environment induces long-lasting response facilitation improving sensory processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- N Barros-Zulaica
- Departamento de Anatomía, Histología y Neurociencia, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - C Castejon
- Departamento de Anatomía, Histología y Neurociencia, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - A Nuñez
- Departamento de Anatomía, Histología y Neurociencia, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28029 Madrid, Spain.
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10
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Thomson E, Lou J, Sylvester K, McDonough A, Tica S, Nicolelis MA. Basal forebrain dynamics during a tactile discrimination task. J Neurophysiol 2014; 112:1179-91. [PMID: 24920019 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00040.2014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The nucleus basalis (NB) is a cholinergic neuromodulatory structure that projects liberally to the entire cortical mantle and regulates information processing in all cortical layers. Here, we recorded activity from populations of single units in the NB as rats performed a whisker-dependent tactile discrimination task. Over 80% of neurons responded with significant modulation in at least one phase of the task. Such activity started before stimulus onset and continued for seconds after reward delivery. Firing rates monotonically increased with reward magnitude during the task, suggesting that NB neurons are not indicating the absolute deviation from expected reward amounts. Individual neurons also encoded significant amounts of information about stimulus identity. Such robust coding was not present when the same stimuli were delivered to lightly anesthetized animals, suggesting that the NB neurons contain a sensorimotor, rather than purely sensory or motor, representation of the environment. Overall, these results support the hypothesis that neurons in the NB provide a value-laden representation of the sensorimotor state of the animal as it engages in significant behavioral tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric Thomson
- Department of Neurobiology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina; Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute for Neuroscience of Natal, Natal, Brazil
| | - Jason Lou
- Department of Neurobiology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
| | | | - Annie McDonough
- Department of Neurobiology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Stefani Tica
- Department of Neurobiology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Miguel A Nicolelis
- Department of Neurobiology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina; Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina; Center for Neuroengineering, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina; and Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute for Neuroscience of Natal, Natal, Brazil
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11
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Aton SJ. Set and setting: how behavioral state regulates sensory function and plasticity. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2013; 106:1-10. [PMID: 23792020 PMCID: PMC4021401 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2013.06.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2013] [Revised: 05/31/2013] [Accepted: 06/10/2013] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Recently developed neuroimaging and electrophysiological techniques are allowing us to answer fundamental questions about how behavioral states regulate our perception of the external environment. Studies using these techniques have yielded surprising insights into how sensory processing is affected at the earliest stages by attention and motivation, and how new sensory information received during wakefulness (e.g., during learning) continues to affect sensory brain circuits (leading to plastic changes) during subsequent sleep. This review aims to describe how brain states affect sensory response properties among neurons in primary and secondary sensory cortices, and how this relates to psychophysical detection thresholds and performance on sensory discrimination tasks. This is not intended to serve as a comprehensive overview of all brain states, or all sensory systems, but instead as an illustrative description of how three specific state variables (attention, motivation, and vigilance [i.e., sleep vs. wakefulness]) affect sensory systems in which they have been best studied.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara J Aton
- Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, USA.
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12
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Pinto L, Goard MJ, Estandian D, Xu M, Kwan AC, Lee SH, Harrison TC, Feng G, Dan Y. Fast modulation of visual perception by basal forebrain cholinergic neurons. Nat Neurosci 2013; 16:1857-1863. [PMID: 24162654 PMCID: PMC4201942 DOI: 10.1038/nn.3552] [Citation(s) in RCA: 364] [Impact Index Per Article: 33.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2013] [Accepted: 09/18/2013] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
The basal forebrain provides the primary source of cholinergic input to the cortex, and it has a crucial function in promoting wakefulness and arousal. However, whether rapid changes in basal forebrain neuron spiking in awake animals can dynamically influence sensory perception is unclear. Here we show that basal forebrain cholinergic neurons rapidly regulate cortical activity and visual perception in awake, behaving mice. Optogenetic activation of the cholinergic neurons or their V1 axon terminals improved performance of a visual discrimination task on a trial-by-trial basis. In V1, basal forebrain activation enhanced visual responses and desynchronized neuronal spiking; these changes could partly account for the behavioral improvement. Conversely, optogenetic basal forebrain inactivation decreased behavioral performance, synchronized cortical activity and impaired visual responses, indicating the importance of cholinergic activity in normal visual processing. These results underscore the causal role of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons in fast, bidirectional modulation of cortical processing and sensory perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucas Pinto
- Division of Neurobiology, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Michael J Goard
- Division of Neurobiology, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Daniel Estandian
- Division of Neurobiology, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Min Xu
- Division of Neurobiology, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Alex C Kwan
- Division of Neurobiology, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Seung-Hee Lee
- Division of Neurobiology, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Thomas C Harrison
- Division of Neurobiology, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Guoping Feng
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139
| | - Yang Dan
- Division of Neurobiology, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
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Kalmbach A, Waters J. Modulation of high- and low-frequency components of the cortical local field potential via nicotinic and muscarinic acetylcholine receptors in anesthetized mice. J Neurophysiol 2013; 111:258-72. [PMID: 24155009 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00244.2013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Release of acetylcholine (ACh) in neocortex is important for learning, memory and attention tasks. The primary source of ACh in neocortex is axons ascending from the basal forebrain. Release of ACh from these axons evokes changes in the cortical local field potential (LFP), including a decline in low-frequency spectral power that is often referred to as desynchronization of the LFP and is thought to result from the activation of muscarinic ACh receptors. Using channelrhodopsin-2, we selectively stimulated the axons of only cholinergic basal forebrain neurons in primary somatosensory cortex of the urethane-anesthetized mouse while monitoring the LFP. Cholinergic stimulation caused desynchronization and two brief increases in higher-frequency power at stimulus onset and offset. Desynchronization (1-6 Hz) was localized, extending ≤ 1 mm from the edge of stimulation, and consisted of both nicotinic and muscarinic receptor-mediated components that were inhibited by mecamylamine and atropine, respectively. Hence we have identified a nicotinic receptor-mediated component to desynchronization. The increase in higher-frequency power (>10 Hz) at stimulus onset was also mediated by activation of nicotinic and muscarinic receptors. However, the increase in higher-frequency power (10-20 Hz) at stimulus offset was evoked by activation of muscarinic receptors and inhibited by activation of nicotinic receptors. We conclude that the activation of nicotinic and muscarinic ACh receptors in neocortex exerts several effects that are reflected in distinct frequency bands of the cortical LFP in urethane-anesthetized mice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abigail Kalmbach
- Department of Physiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois
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14
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Bhattacharyya A, Veit J, Kretz R, Bondar I, Rainer G. Basal forebrain activation controls contrast sensitivity in primary visual cortex. BMC Neurosci 2013; 14:55. [PMID: 23679191 PMCID: PMC3662585 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2202-14-55] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2013] [Accepted: 05/06/2013] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The basal forebrain (BF) regulates cortical activity by the action of cholinergic projections to the cortex. At the same time, it also sends substantial GABAergic projections to both cortex and thalamus, whose functional role has received far less attention. We used deep brain stimulation (DBS) in the BF, which is thought to activate both types of projections, to investigate the impact of BF activation on V1 neural activity. RESULTS BF stimulation robustly increased V1 single and multi-unit activity, led to moderate decreases in orientation selectivity and a remarkable increase in contrast sensitivity as demonstrated by a reduced semi-saturation contrast. The spontaneous V1 local field potential often exhibited spectral peaks centered at 40 and 70 Hz as well as reliably showed a broad γ-band (30-90 Hz) increase following BF stimulation, whereas effects in a low frequency band (1-10 Hz) were less consistent. The broad γ-band, rather than low frequency activity or spectral peaks was the best predictor of both the firing rate increase and contrast sensitivity increase of V1 unit activity. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that BF activation has a strong influence on contrast sensitivity in V1. We suggest that, in addition to cholinergic modulation, the BF GABAergic projections play a crucial role in the impact of BF DBS on cortical activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anwesha Bhattacharyya
- Department of Medicine, University of Fribourg, Chemin du Musée 5, Fribourg 1700, Switzerland
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Bueno-Junior LS, Lopes-Aguiar C, Ruggiero RN, Romcy-Pereira RN, Leite JP. Muscarinic and nicotinic modulation of thalamo-prefrontal cortex synaptic plasticity [corrected] in vivo. PLoS One 2012; 7:e47484. [PMID: 23118873 PMCID: PMC3484139 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0047484] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2012] [Accepted: 09/11/2012] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The mediodorsal nucleus of the thalamus (MD) is a rich source of afferents to the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Dysfunctions in the thalamo-prefrontal connections can impair networks implicated in working memory, some of which are affected in Alzheimer disease and schizophrenia. Considering the importance of the cholinergic system to cortical functioning, our study aimed to investigate the effects of global cholinergic activation of the brain on MD-mPFC synaptic plasticity by measuring the dynamics of long-term potentiation (LTP) and depression (LTD) in vivo. Therefore, rats received intraventricular injections either of the muscarinic agonist pilocarpine (PILO; 40 nmol/µL), the nicotinic agonist nicotine (NIC; 320 nmol/µL), or vehicle. The injections were administered prior to either thalamic high-frequency (HFS) or low-frequency stimulation (LFS). Test pulses were applied to MD for 30 min during baseline and 240 min after HFS or LFS, while field postsynaptic potentials were recorded in the mPFC. The transient oscillatory effects of PILO and NIC were monitored through recording of thalamic and cortical local field potentials. Our results show that HFS did not affect mPFC responses in vehicle-injected rats, but induced a delayed-onset LTP with distinct effects when applied following PILO or NIC. Conversely, LFS induced a stable LTD in control subjects, but was unable to induce LTD when applied after PILO or NIC. Taken together, our findings show distinct modulatory effects of each cholinergic brain activation on MD-mPFC plasticity following HFS and LFS. The LTP-inducing action and long-lasting suppression of cortical LTD induced by PILO and NIC might implicate differential modulation of thalamo-prefrontal functions under low and high input drive.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lezio Soares Bueno-Junior
- Department of Neuroscience and Behavioral Sciences, Ribeirão Preto School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Cleiton Lopes-Aguiar
- Department of Neuroscience and Behavioral Sciences, Ribeirão Preto School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Rafael Naime Ruggiero
- Department of Neuroscience and Behavioral Sciences, Ribeirão Preto School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Rodrigo Neves Romcy-Pereira
- Department of Neuroscience and Behavioral Sciences, Ribeirão Preto School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
- Brain Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
- * E-mail:
| | - João Pereira Leite
- Department of Neuroscience and Behavioral Sciences, Ribeirão Preto School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
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16
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Comparison of long-term potentiation (LTP) in the medial (monocular) and lateral (binocular) rat primary visual cortex. Brain Res 2012; 1488:51-9. [PMID: 23063890 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2012.10.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2012] [Revised: 09/04/2012] [Accepted: 10/02/2012] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Recent evidence suggests that the primary visual cortex (V1) of rodents expresses surprisingly high levels of plasticity into adulthood. For example, long-term potentiation (LTP) is readily induced in the mature V1 of adult rodents in vivo. Here, adult, urethane-anesthetized rats were used for a detailed characterization of LTP in the pathway between the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) and ipsilateral V1. Strong theta-burst stimulation (TBS) of the LGN resulted in LTP of field postsynaptic potentials (fPSPs) recorded in the lateral (binocular) aspects of V1 (l-V1), but failed to do so in the medial (monocular) V1 (m-V1). Administration of MK 801 (1mg/kg, i.p.) blocked LTP in l-V1, indicative of a critical role of NMDA receptors in this effect. Interestingly, weaker TBS induction protocols resulted in synaptic depression in both l-V1 and m-V1, an effect that was blocked by MK 801 only in m-V1. Finally, dLGN stimulation also elicited long-latency fPSPs in the V1 contralateral to the stimulation site, likely reflecting polysynaptic activity crossing the midline via callosal fibers. Relative to ipsilateral recordings, contralateral fPSPs showed greater LTP in both V1 segments, which could not be blocked by MK 801 administration. Together, these data reveal clear differences in the expression of LTP at synapses in l-V1 and m-V1, with greater plasticity in the lateral V1 segment. Further, we confirm that NMDA receptors mediate some, but not all forms of synaptic plasticity in the V1 of adult rodents.
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Nuñez A, Domínguez S, Buño W, Fernández de Sevilla D. Cholinergic-mediated response enhancement in barrel cortex layer V pyramidal neurons. J Neurophysiol 2012; 108:1656-68. [PMID: 22723675 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00156.2012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Neocortical cholinergic activity plays a fundamental role in sensory processing and cognitive functions, but the underlying cellular mechanisms are largely unknown. We analyzed the effects of acetylcholine (ACh) on synaptic transmission and cell excitability in rat "barrel cortex" layer V (L5) pyramidal neurons in vitro. ACh through nicotinic and M1 muscarinic receptors enhanced excitatory postsynaptic currents and through nicotinic and M2 muscarinic receptors reduced inhibitory postsynaptic currents. These effects increased excitability and contributed to the generation of Ca(2+) spikes and bursts of action potentials (APs) when inputs in basal dendrites were stimulated. Ca(2+) spikes were mediated by activation of NMDA receptors (NMDARs) and L-type voltage-gated Ca(2+) channels. Additionally, we demonstrate in vivo that basal forebrain stimulation induced an atropine-sensitive increase of L5 AP responses evoked by vibrissa deflection, an effect mainly due to the enhancement of an NMDAR component. Therefore, ACh modified the excitatory/inhibitory balance and switched L5 pyramidal neurons to a bursting mode that caused a potent and sustained response enhancement with possible fundamental consequences for the function of the barrel cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angel Nuñez
- Departamento de Anatomía, Histología y Neurociencia, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Arzobispo Morcillo 4, 28029 Madrid, Spain
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Bosman LWJ, Houweling AR, Owens CB, Tanke N, Shevchouk OT, Rahmati N, Teunissen WHT, Ju C, Gong W, Koekkoek SKE, De Zeeuw CI. Anatomical pathways involved in generating and sensing rhythmic whisker movements. Front Integr Neurosci 2011; 5:53. [PMID: 22065951 PMCID: PMC3207327 DOI: 10.3389/fnint.2011.00053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 158] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2011] [Accepted: 08/26/2011] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
The rodent whisker system is widely used as a model system for investigating sensorimotor integration, neural mechanisms of complex cognitive tasks, neural development, and robotics. The whisker pathways to the barrel cortex have received considerable attention. However, many subcortical structures are paramount to the whisker system. They contribute to important processes, like filtering out salient features, integration with other senses, and adaptation of the whisker system to the general behavioral state of the animal. We present here an overview of the brain regions and their connections involved in the whisker system. We do not only describe the anatomy and functional roles of the cerebral cortex, but also those of subcortical structures like the striatum, superior colliculus, cerebellum, pontomedullary reticular formation, zona incerta, and anterior pretectal nucleus as well as those of level setting systems like the cholinergic, histaminergic, serotonergic, and noradrenergic pathways. We conclude by discussing how these brain regions may affect each other and how they together may control the precise timing of whisker movements and coordinate whisker perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laurens W. J. Bosman
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MCRotterdam, Netherlands
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Academy of Arts and SciencesAmsterdam, Netherlands
| | | | - Cullen B. Owens
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MCRotterdam, Netherlands
| | - Nouk Tanke
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MCRotterdam, Netherlands
| | | | - Negah Rahmati
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MCRotterdam, Netherlands
| | | | - Chiheng Ju
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MCRotterdam, Netherlands
| | - Wei Gong
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MCRotterdam, Netherlands
| | | | - Chris I. De Zeeuw
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MCRotterdam, Netherlands
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Academy of Arts and SciencesAmsterdam, Netherlands
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Cholinergic modulation of cognition: insights from human pharmacological functional neuroimaging. Prog Neurobiol 2011; 94:360-88. [PMID: 21708219 PMCID: PMC3382716 DOI: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2011.06.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 119] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2011] [Revised: 06/02/2011] [Accepted: 06/07/2011] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Evidence from lesion and cortical-slice studies implicate the neocortical cholinergic system in the modulation of sensory, attentional and memory processing. In this review we consider findings from sixty-three healthy human cholinergic functional neuroimaging studies that probe interactions of cholinergic drugs with brain activation profiles, and relate these to contemporary neurobiological models. Consistent patterns that emerge are: (1) the direction of cholinergic modulation of sensory cortex activations depends upon top-down influences; (2) cholinergic hyperstimulation reduces top-down selective modulation of sensory cortices; (3) cholinergic hyperstimulation interacts with task-specific frontoparietal activations according to one of several patterns, including: suppression of parietal-mediated reorienting; decreasing ‘effort’-associated activations in prefrontal regions; and deactivation of a ‘resting-state network’ in medial cortex, with reciprocal recruitment of dorsolateral frontoparietal regions during performance-challenging conditions; (4) encoding-related activations in both neocortical and hippocampal regions are disrupted by cholinergic blockade, or enhanced with cholinergic stimulation, while the opposite profile is observed during retrieval; (5) many examples exist of an ‘inverted-U shaped’ pattern of cholinergic influences by which the direction of functional neural activation (and performance) depends upon both task (e.g. relative difficulty) and subject (e.g. age) factors. Overall, human cholinergic functional neuroimaging studies both corroborate and extend physiological accounts of cholinergic function arising from other experimental contexts, while providing mechanistic insights into cholinergic-acting drugs and their potential clinical applications.
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Morishita H, Miwa JM, Heintz N, Hensch TK. Lynx1, a cholinergic brake, limits plasticity in adult visual cortex. Science 2010; 330:1238-40. [PMID: 21071629 DOI: 10.1126/science.1195320] [Citation(s) in RCA: 290] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
Experience-dependent brain plasticity typically declines after an early critical period during which circuits are established. Loss of plasticity with closure of the critical period limits improvement of function in adulthood, but the mechanisms that change the brain's plasticity remain poorly understood. Here, we identified an increase in expression of Lynx1 protein in mice that prevented plasticity in the primary visual cortex late in life. Removal of this molecular brake enhanced nicotinic acetylcholine receptor signaling. Lynx1 expression thus maintains stability of mature cortical networks in the presence of cholinergic innervation. The results suggest that modulating the balance between excitatory and inhibitory circuits reactivates visual plasticity and may present a therapeutic target.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hirofumi Morishita
- FM Kirby Neurobiology Center, Children's Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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