Basal forebrain acetylcholine release during REM sleep is significantly greater than during waking

2001 ◽  
Vol 280 (2) ◽  
pp. R598-R601 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Vazquez ◽  
Helen A. Baghdoyan

Cholinergic neurons of the basal forebrain supply the neocortex with ACh and play a major role in regulating behavioral arousal and cortical electroencephalographic activation. Cortical ACh release is greatest during waking and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and reduced during non-REM (NREM) sleep. Loss of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons contributes to sleep disruption and to the cognitive deficits of many neurological disorders. ACh release within the basal forebrain previously has not been quantified during sleep. This study used in vivo microdialysis to test the hypothesis that basal forebrain ACh release varies as a function of sleep and waking. Cats were trained to sleep in a head-stable position, and dialysis samples were collected during polygraphically defined states of waking, NREM sleep, and REM sleep. Results from 22 experiments in four animals demonstrated that means ± SE ACh release (pmol/10 min) was greatest during REM sleep (0.77 ± 0.07), intermediate during waking (0.58 ± 0.03), and lowest during NREM sleep (0.34 ± 0.01). The finding that, during REM sleep, basal forebrain ACh release is significantly elevated over waking levels suggests a differential role for basal forebrain ACh during REM sleep and waking.

1993 ◽  
Vol 264 (3) ◽  
pp. R544-R554 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Lydic ◽  
H. A. Baghdoyan

The present study examined the hypothesis that cholinergic neurons in the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PPT) can cause the release of acetylcholine (ACh) in the pontine reticular formation and contribute to respiratory depression. In vivo microdialysis of the gigantocellular tegmental field (FTG) was performed in 10 adult male cats while respiration was being measured. In four intact, unanesthetized cats these measurements were obtained during states of quiet wakefulness and during the rapid eye movement (REM) sleeplike state caused by FTG microinjections of carbachol. The results demonstrate a simultaneous time course of enhanced ACh release in the FTG and respiratory rate depression. In six barbiturate-anesthetized cats similar measurements were obtained while PPT regions containing NADPH-positive neurons were electrically stimulated. PPT stimulation caused increased ACh release in the FTG and caused respiratory rate depression. Together, these findings are consistent with the hypothesis of a causal relationship between ACh release in the FTG and respiratory depression.


2004 ◽  
Vol 92 (4) ◽  
pp. 2198-2206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Vazquez ◽  
Helen A. Baghdoyan

This study used in vivo microdialysis in cat ( n = 12) to test the hypothesis that gamma aminobutyric acid A (GABAA) receptors in the pontine reticular formation (PRF) inhibit acetylcholine (ACh) release. Animals were anesthetized with halothane to hold arousal state constant. Six concentrations of the GABAA receptor antagonist bicuculline (0.03, 0.1, 0.3, 1, 3, and 10 mM) were delivered to a dialysis probe in the PRF, and endogenously released ACh was collected simultaneously. Bicuculline caused a concentration dependent increase in ACh release (maximal increase = 345%; EC50 = 1.3 mM; r2 = 0.997). Co-administration of the GABAA receptor agonist muscimol prevented the bicuculline-induced increase in ACh release. In a second series of experiments, the effects of bicuculline (0.1, 0.3, 1, and 3 mM) on ACh release were examined without the use of general anesthesia. States of wakefulness, rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep, and non-REM sleep were identified polygraphically before and during dialysis delivery of bicuculline. Higher concentrations of bicuculline (1 and 3 mM) significantly increased ACh release during wakefulness (36%), completely suppressed non-REM sleep, and increased ACh release during REM sleep (143%). The finding that ACh release in the PRF is modulated by GABAA receptors is consistent with the interpretation that inhibition of GABAergic transmission in the PRF contributes to the generation of REM sleep, in part, by increasing pontine ACh release.


1999 ◽  
Vol 90 (4) ◽  
pp. 1070-1077 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Mortazavi ◽  
Janel Thompson ◽  
Helen A. Baghdoyan ◽  
Ralph Lydic

Background Opioids inhibit the rapid eye movement (REM) phase of sleep and decrease acetylcholine (ACh) release in medial pontine reticular formation (mPRF) regions contributing to REM sleep generation. It is not known whether opioids decrease ACh release by acting on cholinergic cell bodies or on cholinergic axon terminals. This study used in vivo microdialysis to test the hypothesis that opioids decrease ACh levels at cholinergic neurons in the laterodorsal tegmental nuclei (LDT) and LDT axon terminals in the mPRF. Methods Nine male cats were anesthetized with halothane, and ACh levels within the mPRF or LDT were assayed using microdialysis and high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). ACh levels were analyzed in response to dialysis of the mPRF and LDT with Ringer's solution (control), followed by dialysis with Ringer's solution containing morphine sulfate (MSO4) or naloxone. ACh in the mPRF also was measured during either dialysis delivery or intravenous infusion of remifentanil and during dialysis delivery of fentanyl. Results Compared with dialysis of Ringer's solution, microdialysis with MSO4 decreased ACh by 23% in the mPRF and by 30% in the LDT. This significant decrease in ACh was antagonized by naloxone. MSO4 and fentanyl each caused a dose-dependent decrease in mPRF ACh when delivered by dialysis. Remifentanil delivered by continuous intravenous infusion or by dialysis into the mPRF did not alter mPRF ACh. Conclusions Morphine inhibits ACh at the cholinergic cell body region (LDT) and the terminal field in the mPRF. ACh in the mPRF was not altered by remifentanil and was significantly decreased by fentanyl. Thus, MSO4 and fentanyl disrupt cholinergic neurotransmission in the LDT-mPRF network known to modulate REM sleep and cortical electroencephalographic activation. These data are consistent with the possibility that inhibition of pontine cholinergic neurotransmission contributes to arousal state disruption by opioids.


SLEEP ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. A30-A30
Author(s):  
J Stucynski ◽  
A Schott ◽  
J Baik ◽  
J Hong ◽  
F Weber ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction The neural circuits controlling rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, and in particular the role of the medulla in regulating this brain state, remains an active area of study. Previous electrophysiological recordings in the dorsomedial medulla (DM) and electrical stimulation experiments suggested an important role of this area in the control of REM sleep. However the identity of the involved neurons and their precise role in REM sleep regulation are still unclear. Methods The properties of DM GAD2 neurons in mice were investigated through stereotaxic injection of CRE-dependent viruses in conjunction with implantation of electrodes for electroencephalogram (EEG) and electromyogram (EMG) recordings and optic fibers. Experiments included in vivo calcium imaging (fiber photometry) across sleep and wake states, optogenetic stimulation of cell bodies, chemogenetic excitation and suppression (DREADDs), and connectivity mapping using viral tracing and optogenetics. Results Imaging the calcium activity of DM GAD2 neurons in vivo indicates that these neurons are most active during REM sleep. Optogenetic stimulation of DM GAD2 neurons reliably triggered transitions into REM sleep from NREM sleep. Consistent with this, chemogenetic activation of DM GAD2 neurons increased the amount of REM sleep while inhibition suppressed its occurrence and enhanced NREM sleep. Anatomical tracing revealed that DM GAD2 neurons project to several areas involved in sleep / wake regulation including the wake-promoting locus coeruleus (LC) and the REM sleep-suppressing ventrolateral periaquaductal gray (vlPAG). Optogenetic activation of axonal projections from DM to LC, and DM to vlPAG was sufficient to induce REM sleep. Conclusion These experiments demonstrate that DM inhibitory neurons expressing GAD2 powerfully promote initiation of REM sleep in mice. These findings further characterize the dorsomedial medulla as a critical structure involved in REM sleep regulation and inform future investigations of the REM sleep circuitry. Support R01 HL149133


2006 ◽  
Vol 96 (2) ◽  
pp. 686-694 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshihiko Momiyama ◽  
Laszlo Zaborszky

A whole cell patch-clamp study was carried out in slices obtained from young rat brain to elucidate the roles of somatostatin in the modulation of synaptic transmission onto cholinergic neurons in the basal forebrain (BF), a region that contains cholinergic and GABAergic corticopetal neurons and somatostatin (SS)-containing local circuit neurons. Cholinergic neurons within the BF were identified by in vivo prelabeling with Cy3 IgG. Because in many cases SS is contained in GABAergic neurons in the CNS, we investigated whether exogenously applied SS can influence GABAergic transmission onto cholinergic neurons. Bath application of somatostatin (1 μM) reduced the amplitude of the evoked GABAergic inhibitory presynaptic currents (IPSCs) in cholinergic neurons. SS also reduced the frequency of miniature IPSCs (mIPSCs) without affecting their amplitude distribution. SS-induced effect on the mIPSC frequency was significantly larger in the solution containing 7.2 mM Ca2+ than in the standard (2.4 mM Ca2+) external solution. Similar effects were observed in the case of non-NMDA glutamatergic excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs). SS inhibited the amplitude of evoked EPSCs and reduced the frequency of miniature EPSCs dependent on the external Ca2+ concentration with no effect on their amplitude distribution. Pharmacological analyses using SS-receptor subtype–specific drugs suggest that SS-induced action of the IPSCs is mediated mostly by the sst2 subtype, whereas sst subtypes mediating SS-induced inhibition of EPSCs are mainly sst1 or sst4. These findings suggest that SS presynaptically inhibits both GABA and glutamate release onto BF cholinergic neurons in a Ca2+-dependent way, and that SS-induced effect on IPSCs and EPSCs are mediated by different sst subtypes.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley M. Fortress ◽  
Mona Buhusi ◽  
Kris L. Helke ◽  
Ann-Charlotte E. Granholm

Learning and memory impairments occurring with Alzheimer's disease (AD) are associated with degeneration of the basal forebrain cholinergic neurons (BFCNs). BFCNs extend their axons to the hippocampus where they bind nerve growth factor (NGF) which is retrogradely transported to the cell body. While NGF is necessary for BFCN survival and function via binding to the high-affinity receptor TrkA, its uncleaved precursor, pro-NGF has been proposed to induce neurodegeneration via binding to the p75NTR and its coreceptor sortilin. Basal forebrain TrkA and NGF are downregulated with aging while pro-NGF is increased. Given these data, the focus of this paper was to determine a mechanism for how pro-NGF accumulation may induce BFCN degeneration. Twenty-four hours after a single injection of pro-NGF into hippocampus, we found increased hippocampal p75NTR levels, decreased hippocampal TrkA levels, and cholinergic degeneration. The data suggest that the increase in p75NTR with AD may be mediated by elevated pro-NGF levels as a result of decreased cleavage, and that pro-NGF may be partially responsible for age-related degenerative changes observed in the basal forebrain. This paper is the firstin vivoevidence that pro-NGF can affect BFCNs and may do so by regulating expression of p75NTR neurotrophin receptors.


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