Acetylcholine systems and rhythmic activities during the waking–sleep cycle
Section snippets
Two cholinergic systems: their connections and related issues
Two cholinergic systems have access to, and activate, thalamocortical and neocortical neurons. One of them originates in the pedunculopontine and laterodorsal tegmental (PPT/LDT) cholinergic nuclei and projects to virtually all thalamic nuclei, but has no direct projections to cortex (see Steriade, 2001b). The other originates in nucleus basalis (NB) and projects to cortex and the thalamic reticular nucleus (reviewed in Asanuma, 1997, Semba, 2000). Both these cholinergic systems exert
From slow-wave sleep oscillatory activities to fast rhythms during brain-active states
Setting brainstem PPT/LDT cholinergic neurons into action results in a blockage of the low-frequency rhythmic activities (<15 Hz) that characterize slow-wave sleep and the occurrence of fast rhythms (∼20–60 Hz) that define waking and REM sleep. These two brain-active states should not be qualified as ‘EEG-desynchronized’, as is often done, because fast rhythms are synchronized over restricted neocortical territories and within corticothalamocortical loops (Steriade et al., 1996a, Steriade et
Relations between brainstem cholinergic and locus coeruleus neurons
Although in brain slices ACh and noradrenaline (NA) act on different cell types via pharmacologically distinct receptors, during natural arousal both PPT and locus coeruleus (LC) nuclei are implicated in rather complex interactions.
In vivo, a comparison between the effects induced by brief pulse-trains to LC and those induced by stimulating PPT cholinergic nucleus with the same parameters showed that, although both stimulated structures blocked the cortically generated slow oscillation, the
Conclusions
- 1.
(a) Brainstem cholinergic neurons project to the thalamus, depolarize and increase the apparent input resistance of thalamocortical neurons, and indirectly excite these relay neurons by hyperpolarizing and increasing the membrane conductance of GABAergic thalamic reticular neurons.
- 2.
(b) Muscarinic receptor blockers antagonize cortical activation processes elicited by mesopontine reticular neurons. The activation effect elicited by brainstem reticular stimulation is relayed by a glutamatergic
Acknowledgements
Personal experiments reported in this chapter have been supported by grants from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (MT-3689 and MOP-36545), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (170538), Human Frontier Science Program (RG0131), and National Institute of Health of United States (NINDS, 1-R01 NS40522-01). I thank the following Ph.D. students and postdoctoral fellows for their skilful and creative collaboration in experiments performed during the past decade (in
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2021, Journal of Theoretical BiologyMechanisms of decreased cholinergic arousal in focal seizures: In vivo whole-cell recordings from the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus
2019, Experimental NeurologyCitation Excerpt :Postsynaptic hyperpolarization of a neuron could be caused by active inhibition, such as through GABAergic input opening chloride channels. If the dominant input causing this hyperpolarization was increased GABAergic input, one would anticipate a decrease in Rin to accompany the opening of channels (Steriade, 2004). The consistent increase in Rin observed accompanying the hyperpolarization of RfHp neurons during seizures argues against direct GABAergic input on these neurons as the dominant mechanism of reduced activity.
Nuclear organization and morphology of cholinergic neurons in the brain of the rock cavy (Kerodon rupestris) (Wied, 1820)
2018, Journal of Chemical NeuroanatomyCitation Excerpt :Classically, the PTg has been identified by its population of cholinergic neurons, the labeling of which is still the best way to define it. Both the LDTg and PTg have been traditionally associated with functions of the reticular activating system due to the presence of the ascending cholinergic projections to the thalamus that modulate cortical activation (Garcia-Rill et al., 2013; Steriade, 2004) and with the functions of the mesencephalic locomotor region through the modulation of goal-directed locomotion (Mena-Segovia, 2016). Furthermore, considering their interconnections, it has been suggested that the PTg should be considered a part of the basal ganglia (Mena-Segovia et al., 2004).