Basal forebrain and frontal cortex neuron responses during visual discrimination in the rat

Neurobiological mechanisms for the regulation of mammalian sleep–wake behavior: Reinterpretation of historical evidence and inclusion of contemporary cellular and molecular evidence

“…Cholinergic neurons of the BF have been implicated in a variety of wake-promoting behaviors, including attention, sensory processing, and learning (Bartus et al, 1982;Fibiger, 1991;Hars et al, 1993;Metherate and Ashe, 1993;Muir et al, 1994;Pirch, 1993;Richardson and DeLong, 1990;Sarter and Bruno, 1997;Whalen et al, 1994;Wilson and Rolls, 1990). The BF cholinergic regions are also known to have an important role in hippocampal and neocortical EEG activation (Detari et al, 1984;Detari and Vanderwolf, 1987;Nunez, 1996;Stewart et al, 1984).…”

The medial prefrontal cortex in the rat: evidence for a dorso-ventral distinction based upon functional and anatomical characteristics

“…In fact, the activation of cholinergic neurons originating from the nucleus basalis magnocellularis and the mesopontine laterodorsal tegmental nucleus [66,110,114,174] and the resulting release of acetylcholine (ACh) in the target prefrontal cortical areas is associated with electroencephalographic desynchronization [29,100,149,150,160] and locomotor activity [36]. Thus, the activation of the basal forebrain cholinergic neurons projecting towards the medial prefrontal cortex results in arousal which, in turn, is required for the processing of sensory, motor, and cognitive information [52,53,152,155,171]. The available evidence thus supports the contention that while the release of acetylcholine in the medial prefrontal cortex heightens arousal, which is required to process both sensorimotor information [171] and spatial working memory [155], the type of cognitive processes that acetylcholine enhances depends, at least in part, on specific subterritories within the medial prefrontal cortex.…”

The ventral pallidum: Subregion-specific functional anatomy and roles in motivated behaviors

“…Similar to the human CNV, shifts in rat SP reflects learning of the association between the CS+ and a reward, and the SP also shows extinction upon removal of the reward. These SP characteristics are independent of the CS modality (tone, light or subthreshold brain stimulation) and type of reinforcer (food, rewarding brain stimulations, footshock) (Rucker et al, 1986; Pirch, 1993), and clearly involve dopaminergic transmission (Pirch et al, 1981; Pirch, Napier and Corbus, 1981; Pirch and Corbus, 1983). The SPs correlate with event-related changes in single neuron firing in both the frontal cortex (Pirch and Peterson, 1981; Pirch et al, 1985) as well as in the VP (Rigdon and Pirch, 1986; note: only a caudal portion of VP was tested, which was termed the substantia innominata in this report).…”