Topic: basal forebrain

Global excitatory activity patterns across the dorsal cortex are reorganized when mice perform perceptual decision-making tasks that involve different underlying computations and vary in complexity. However, the circuit mechanisms enabling such large-scale activity reorganization remain unknown. An interesting possibility is that they depend on neuromodulatory input to the cortex. In particular, cholinergic neurons in the basal forebrain project widely across cortical areas while exhibiting topographical and functional heterogeneity. They are therefore well equipped to serve as an orchestrator

Transcranial ultrasonic stimulation (TUS) promises non-invasive and highly precise neuromodulation of small, deeply located brain regions like the basal forebrain (BF) – a cholinergic hub that is affected in neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s. Here, we aimed to combine TUS of the BF with simultaneous electroencephalography (TUS-EEG), expecting widespread desynchronization of cortical neuronal activity due to TUS-induced increases in cholinergic BF signalling.TUS transducer placement and targeting were individually planned and monitored using MRI scans as well as acoustic simulations a

Lateralization of motor skills such as hand preference is a common trait across various species, including humans and rodents. It's well known that humans can alter their dominant hand through training, a process often associated with psychological stress and the potential for developmental issues, including language impairments. Yet, the neural mechanisms underlying the hand switching remain largely obscure. Our research delves into this phenomenon in mice, revealing that they can also alter their hand preference via corrective training. We focused on the basal forebrain's cholinergic system,

Dementia, particularly Alzheimer's disease (AD), is a significant health challenge in Europe, characterized by tauopathy and the progressive loss of cholinergic neurons in the basal forebrain. Despite extensive research, effective treatments remain elusive. Utilizing neuroblastoma cells like SH-SY5Y offers a promising avenue to mimic neuronal phenotypes in vitro, aiding in disease mechanism exploration and therapy testing. However, establishing reliable differentiation protocols, especially under serum-free conditions, is imperative.This study aims to refine differentiation protocols and evalu

Acetylcholine (ACh) release in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is essential to numerous cognitive functions and disruptions of cortical ACh transmission has been implicated in several disorders, including attentional deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Alzheimer’s disease or schizophrenia and addictive behavior. Similarly in rodents, it has been shown that cognitive functions rely on the mPFC neuronal activity and that ACh release can modulate mPFC neuronal activity thereby altering cognitive behaviors, in particular attention. The main ACh innervation of mPFC originates in basal forebr

The study focuses on the central role of the medial septum (MS), a critical component of the basal forebrain nucleus, in supporting various physiological activities such as sensorimotor integration and memory consolidation. The primary goal is to unravel the intricate information transfer mechanism between the MS and the hippocampus during memory formation, with a particular focus on the involvement of MS neurons in both hippocampal theta wave and ripple generation.To achieve this goal, a patch-clamp methodology was used for in vivo recording of MS neuronal activity. This approach was designed