Fast modulation of visual perception by basal forebrain cholinergic neurons
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Feng_Fast modulation.pdf
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Author(s)
Pinto, Lucas
Estandian, Daniel
Xu, Min
Lee, Seung-Hee
Feng, Guoping
Dan, Yang
Goard, Michael J.
Kwan, Alex C.
Harrison, Thomas C.
Date Issued
October 2013
Journal
Nature Neuroscience
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
Citation
Pinto, Lucas, Michael J Goard, Daniel Estandian, Min Xu, Alex C Kwan, Seung-Hee Lee, Thomas C Harrison, Guoping Feng, and Yang Dan. “Fast Modulation of Visual Perception by Basal Forebrain Cholinergic Neurons.” Nature Neuroscience 16, no. 12 (October 27, 2013): 1857–63.
Version
Author's final manuscript
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.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT
Picower Institute for Learning and Memory
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Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3552
