Septocingulate and septohippocampal cholinergic pathways: involvement in working/episodic memory

Dougherty, Karen; Turchin, Paul I; Walsh, Thomas J.

doi:10.1016/s0006-8993(98)00870-1

Cited by 36 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…For example, release of acetylcholine (ACh) in the hippocampus is positively correlated with training on a working memory task (Fadda et al, 1996) and with good performance on a hippocampus-dependent, spontaneous alternation task (Ragozzino and Gold, 1995). These results are compatible with the extensive literature demonstrating involvement of cholinergic contributions, particularly the septohippocampal cholinergic system, to learning and memory (Chrobak et al, 1989;Brioni et al, 1990;Mizumori et al, 1990;Olton et al, 1991;Givens and Olton, 1995;Markowska et al, 1995;Dougherty et al, 1998).…”

Section: Abstract: Competition; Memory Systems; Amygdala; Hippocampusupporting

confidence: 74%

Competition between Memory Systems: Acetylcholine Release in the Hippocampus Correlates Negatively with Good Performance on an Amygdala-Dependent Task

et al. 2002

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Lesions of the amygdala impair acquisition of a food conditioned place preference (CPP) task. In contrast, lesions of the fornix facilitate acquisition on this task, showing that an intact hippocampal system can interfere with learning an amygdaladependent task. Our recent findings indicate that acetylcholine (ACh) release in the hippocampus increases while rats perform a hippocampus-dependent spontaneous alternation task. To the extent that ACh output in the hippocampus reflects activation of that brain area in learning and memory, the results obtained with fornix lesions suggest that ACh release in the hippocampus might be negatively correlated with learning on a CPP task. Using in vivo microdialysis, release of ACh was measured in the hippocampus while rats learned and were tested on an amygdala-dependent CPP task and a hippocampus-dependent spontaneous alternation task. Release of ACh in the hippocampus increased when rats were tested on either task. The magnitude of the increase in release of hippocampal ACh was negatively correlated with good performance on the amygdala-dependent CPP task. These findings suggest that ACh release may reflect activation and participation of the hippocampus in learning and memory, but in a manner that can be detrimental to performance on a task dependent on another brain area.

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Section: Abstract: Competition; Memory Systems; Amygdala; Hippocampusupporting

confidence: 74%

Competition between Memory Systems: Acetylcholine Release in the Hippocampus Correlates Negatively with Good Performance on an Amygdala-Dependent Task

et al. 2002

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“…Although the number of WM and RM errors was higher in the septum-lesioned than in the shamlesioned group, the rate of task acquisition was nevertheless similar in both groups, as illustrated by parallel learning curves. Although we did not manipulate the delay in the present experiment, our WM data can be compared with earlier findings by Dougherty et al (1998), who reported that immunotoxic lesions of the septohippocampal pathways in SpragueDawley rats induced a delay-independent performance deficit in a delayed nonmatching-to-sample task assessed in an eight arm radial maze. The fact that the deficit did not depend on the delay indicated that WM performance was only weakly altered by the lesion in the latter study.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 53%

“…The function of the cholinergic septohippocampal projections in spatial learning and memory has been investigated in a number of studies (Dutar et al, 1995;Dougherty et al, 1998) and a variety of tasks, but their role is still a matter of debate. Unlike earlier studies with nonselective lesions, induced by electrolysis (Brito and Brito, 1990;M'Harzi and Jarrard, 1992), mechanical transections, or unselective neurotoxins, the experimental evidence for an involvement of the cholinergic septohippocampal neurons in spatial reference or WM has at best been weak in a majority of studies using a selective immunotoxic lesion.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long‐term effects of immunotoxic cholinergic lesions in the septum on acquisition of the cone‐field task and noncognitive measures in rats

et al. 2006

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In rats, nonspecific mechanical or neurotoxic lesions of the septum impair spatial memory in, e.g., Morris water- and radial-maze tasks. Unfortunately, the lack of specificity of such lesions limits inferences about the role of the cholinergic hippocampal projections in spatial cognition. We therefore tested the effects of septal lesions produced by 192 IgG-saporin in rats, which is highly selective for basal forebrain cholinergic neurons, on home cage activity, noncognitive tests (modified Irwin test, open field and forced swimming tests, and various sensorimotor tasks), and the cone-field spatial learning task. The immunotoxic lesion reduced acetylcholine (ACh) levels in the septum (-61%) and hippocampus (>-75%). Rats with lesions showed mild home-cage hyperactivity at 4 weeks postlesion, but no noncognitive deficits at 13 weeks postsurgery. In the cone-field task, rats with septal lesions made more working- and reference-memory errors than the controls, but acquisition curves were parallel in both groups. The speed of visiting cones was faster in the rats with lesions, indicative of disturbed attention or increased motivation. These data support the growing evidence that involvement of the septohippocampal cholinergic system in spatial learning and memory may have been overestimated in studies that used lesions with poor selectivity.

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“…These values were then normalized to pixel densities in striatum to eliminate confounds that could arise from different intensities of AChE stain in different brains-in particular, from the notably lighter stains obtained from all brains left in postfix for a week. This procedure for the quantitative evaluation of AChE-staining fiber density is similar to methods used in other BFCS lesion studies (see Dougherty et al 1998;Wrenn et al 1999).…”

Section: Histological Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Extensive Lesions of Cholinergic Basal Forebrain Neurons Do Not Impair Spatial Working Memory

Vuckovich

Semel²,

Baxter³

2004

Learn. Mem.

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A recent study suggests that lesions to all major areas of the cholinergic basal forebrain in the rat (medial septum, horizontal limb of the diagonal band of Broca, and nucleus basalis magnocellularis) impair a spatial working memory task. However, this experiment used a surgical technique that may have damaged cerebellar Purkinje cells. The present study tested rats with highly selective lesions of cholinergic neurons in all major areas of the basal forebrain on a spatial working memory task in the radial arm maze. In postoperative testing, there were no significant differences between lesion and control groups in working memory, even with a delay period of 8 h, with the exception of a transient impairment during the first 2 d of postoperative testing at shorter delays (0 or 2 h). This finding corroborates other results that indicate that the cholinergic basal forebrain does not play a significant role in spatial working memory. Furthermore, it underscores the presence of intact memory functions after cholinergic basal forebrain damage, despite attentional impairments that follow these lesions, demonstrated in other task paradigms.The cognitive functions of the basal forebrain cholinergic system (BFCS) are of considerable interest, given the damage to this system associated with neuropathological conditions such as Alzheimer's disease (Perry et al. 1977(Perry et al. , 1978Bartus et al. 1982Bartus et al. , 1985aBaxter and Gallagher 1997;Bartus 2000). Experimental lesion studies have attempted to address the question of which aspects of cognitive impairment in these human disease states, if any, can be attributed to loss of cholinergic neurons. The present study aims to further clarify the role of the BFCS in spatial cognition.The extent of acetylcholine loss in aged and demented subjects correlates with the extent of their cognitive impairment (Perry et al. 1977(Perry et al. , 1978Bartus et al. 1982). Experiments on animals have therefore examined the effects of BFCS lesions on spatial learning and memory tasks. These tasks are thought to effectively model the cognitive processes that are usually the first to deteriorate in aged and demented humans (Gallagher and Pelleymounter 1988). However, different BFCS lesion experiments have produced seemingly contradictory results. Early studies suggested an important role for this system in learning and memory. Rats with ibotenic acid lesions of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis/substantia innominata (nBM/SI), the component of the basal forebrain that projects predominantly to neocortex, were impaired on a preoperatively learned delayed nonmatching-tosample (DNMS) radial maze task (Bartus et al. 1985b(Bartus et al. , 1986. Similarly, lesions to the nBM/SI or medial septum/vertical limb of the diagonal band (MS/VDB; the component of the basal forebrain that projects predominantly to the hippocampus) also impaired learning and performance in spatial working memory in the radial arm maze (Hepler et al. 1985;M'Harzi and Jarrard 1992).However, studies using ibotenic acid ca...

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Septocingulate and septohippocampal cholinergic pathways: involvement in working/episodic memory

Cited by 36 publications

References 46 publications

Competition between Memory Systems: Acetylcholine Release in the Hippocampus Correlates Negatively with Good Performance on an Amygdala-Dependent Task

Competition between Memory Systems: Acetylcholine Release in the Hippocampus Correlates Negatively with Good Performance on an Amygdala-Dependent Task

Long‐term effects of immunotoxic cholinergic lesions in the septum on acquisition of the cone‐field task and noncognitive measures in rats

Extensive Lesions of Cholinergic Basal Forebrain Neurons Do Not Impair Spatial Working Memory

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