Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Panna Hegedus, Katalin Sviatko, Balint Kiraly, Sergio Martinez-Bellver, Balazs Hangya
Summary: Basal forebrain cholinergic neurons have an important role in associative learning and processing stimuli that predict future outcomes. This study used calcium imaging and spiking recordings to investigate the impact of outcome probabilities on these neurons in mice. The results showed that the cholinergic neurons responded more strongly to sensory cues that were often paired with reward, and reward delivery activated the neurons, with surprising rewards generating a stronger response. The findings suggest that the cholinergic neurons differentially weigh predictions of positive and negative reinforcement, reflecting the relative salience of appetitive and aversive outcomes.
Article
Neurosciences
Sweyta Lohani, Andrew H. Moberly, Hadas Benisty, Boris Landa, Miao Jing, Yulong Li, Michael J. Higley, Jessica A. Cardin
Summary: This study investigates the relationship between fluctuations in behavioral state and brain activity, particularly focusing on the role of acetylcholine in the neocortex. The findings suggest that different levels of arousal in distinct behavioral states are linked to dynamic patterns of cholinergic modulation and network correlations.
NATURE NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Fangchen Zhu, Sarah Elnozahy, Jennifer Lawlor, Kishore V. Kuchibhotla
Summary: The study found that cholinergic signals from the basal forebrain relay auditory information to the auditory cortex. These signals are modulated by brain and behavioral states and provide repeated auditory representations across the cortical tonotopy. However, it remains unknown whether sensory cholinergic signals target the sensory cortex and how they relate to local functional topography.
NATURE NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Eva Schweickert de Palma, Tilman Guennewig, Michael Rullmann, Julia Luthardt, Mohammed K. Hankir, Philipp M. Meyer, Georg-Alexander Becker, Marianne Patt, Sarah Martin, Anja Hilbert, Matthias Blueher, Osama Sabri, Swen Hesse
Summary: This study investigated whether there is altered brain alpha 4 beta 2* nAChR availability in individuals with obesity compared to normal-weight healthy controls. The findings suggest the possibility of aberrant alpha 4 beta 2* nAChR availability in the key brain regions that regulate feeding behavior.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Elisabetta Coppi, Federica Cherchi, Erica Sarchielli, Irene Fusco, Giulia Guarnieri, Pasquale Gallina, Renato Corradetti, Felicita Pedata, Gabriella B. Vannelli, Anna Maria Pugliese, Annamaria Morelli
Summary: This study characterized cholinergic effects in human NBM neurons, showing that acetylcholine can modulate ion channels by enhancing K currents, reducing Na currents, and activating different receptors. Spontaneous acetylcholine release from neuroblasts in the human fetal NBM may play a key role in brain development.
JOURNAL OF NEUROCHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Piao Zhang, Siming Rong, Chentao He, Yan Li, Xiaohong Li, Zhenzhen Chen, Kun Nie, Limin Wang, Lijuan Wang, Yuhu Zhang
Summary: This study investigated the cholinergic basal forebrain pathology in Parkinson's disease with mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI) and found that functional connectivity changes are frequency-specific, providing new insights into the functional alterations within the cholinergic system in cognitive impairment.
QUANTITATIVE IMAGING IN MEDICINE AND SURGERY
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Jochem van Kempen, Marc A. Gieselmann, Michael Boyd, Nicholas A. Steinmetz, Tirin Moore, Tatiana A. Engel, Alexander Thiele
Summary: Fluctuations in cortical excitability affect sensory processing and behavior. These fluctuations are coordinated across different brain areas, with top-down attention enhancing this coordination. The degree of local state coordination between different areas can predict behavioral performance.
Article
Neurosciences
Yawen Wang, Minye Zhan, Alard Roebroeck, Peter De Weerd, Sriranga Kashyap, Mark J. Roberts
Summary: This study examines the feasibility of using MRI to locate the nucleus basalis of Meynert (nbM) in humans, and finds that current methods of mapping nbM may have limitations, especially when dealing with high resolution MRI data. By developing a new nbM mask and utilizing high spatial resolution data, more accurate and stable volume estimates can be obtained. Direct imaging of nbM appears to be feasible, but further development is necessary for standard (f)MRI scanning to allow such imaging.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Nicola J. Ray, Rachael A. Lawson, Sarah L. Martin, Hilmar P. Sigurdsson, Joanna Wilson, Brook Galna, Sue Lord, Lisa Alcock, Gordon W. Duncan, Tien K. Khoo, John T. O'Brien, David J. Burn, John-Paul Taylor, River C. Rea, Maurizio Bergamino, Lynn Rochester, Alison J. Yarnall
Summary: Free-water imaging can predict dopamine system degeneration in Parkinson's disease and enhance the sensitivity of traditional DTI metrics. However, it has not been applied to investigate cholinergic system degeneration. Free-water imaging, free-water-corrected DTI, and volumetry were used to extract structural metrics from the cholinergic basal forebrain and pedunculopontine nucleus in people with Parkinson's disease.
Article
Neurosciences
Gela V. Beselia, Nino C. Chkhikvishvili, Maia A. Burjanadze, Revaz O. Solomonia, Maia Meparishvili, Barbare Nozadze, Sulkhan Asanidze, Aleksandre Nemsitsveridze, Manana G. Dashniani
Summary: The results of the study showed that selective immunolesions of cholinergic and GABAergic neurons in the NBM have different effects on memory function in rats, with cholinergic lesions impairing spatial working memory and long-term spatial memory, while GABAergic lesions only affecting working memory. Additionally, the immunolesions caused changes in glutamatergic and cholinergic markers in the mPFC, highlighting the complex interactions between different neurotransmitter systems in memory processes.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Mohammad Shabani, Mehran Ilaghi, Reyhaneh Naderi, Moazamehosadat Razavinasab
Summary: Exposure to prenatal stress leads to the vulnerability of offspring towards cognitive and behavioral disorders. The LDT, a part of the brainstem cholinergic system, plays a key role in the progression of stress-associated anxiety, memory impairment, and addictive behaviors. This study found that the hyperexcitability of LDT cholinergic neurons might be involved in the development of anxiety-like behaviors, drug seeking, and memory impairment associated with prenatal stress.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Nicola J. J. Ray, Prabesh Kanel, Nicolaas I. I. Bohnen
Summary: Structural imaging of the cholinergic basal forebrain may provide a biomarker for cholinergic system integrity in Parkinson's disease. This study validates the correlation between cholinergic basal forebrain morphometry and vesicular acetylcholine transporter in a large Parkinson's sample.
ANNALS OF NEUROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Mihai Avram, Michel J. Grothe, Lena Meinhold, Claudia Leucht, Stefan Leucht, Stefan Borgwardt, Felix Brandl, Christian Sorg
Summary: Research suggests that patients with schizophrenia have lower volumes of cholinergic basal forebrain nuclei, which are associated with cognitive deficits, specifically in attention.
NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Geriatrics & Gerontology
Tiantian Qiu, Qingze Zeng, Xiao Luo, Tongcheng Xu, Zhujing Shen, Xiaopei Xu, Chao Wang, Kaicheng Li, Peiyu Huang, Xiaodong Li, Fei Xie, Shouping Dai, Minming Zhang
Summary: This study aimed to evaluate the interaction effects of condition (non-smoking vs. smoking) and diagnosis (cognitively normal vs. MCI) based on the resting-state functional connectivity of the NBM. Findings suggest that chronic nicotine exposure through smoking may lead to functional connectivity disruption between the NBM and precuneus in MCI patients, indicating that cigarette smoking has different influences on normal and impaired cognition.
FRONTIERS IN AGING NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Biology
Martin A. Spacek, Davide Crombie, Yannik Bauer, Gregory Born, Xinyu Liu, Steffen Katzner, Laura Busse
Summary: Neurons in the dLGN receive modulatory inputs from CT feedback and brain stem nuclei. CT feedback consistently increases dLGN response gain and promotes tonic firing for naturalistic movie clips, while its effects on firing rates for gratings are mixed. The neural signatures of CT feedback closely resemble those of behavioral state, but the effects of behavioral state on responses to movies persist even when CT feedback is suppressed.