How does acetylcholine contribute to the visual perception of awake animals?

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26780415
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Experimental psychology
• Research Institution: Tamagawa University
• Principal Investigator: SOMA Shogo 玉川大学, 脳科学研究所, 特別研究員(PD) (00723256)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 一次視覚野 / アセチルコリン / コリン作動性ニューロン / 192IgG-saporin / コントラスト感度 / ゲイン調節

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Although the neuromodulator acetylcholine (ACh) is known to facilitate the neuronal activity in the visual cortex (response gain control), it remains unclear its specific role in visual function. In the present study, we investigated how the contrast sensitivity of rats was influenced by the depletion of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons in the nucleus basalis. First, we developed a novel behavioural task, a two alternative forced-choice visual cue detection task, which enabled short rat training periods. Furthermore, we measured the contrast sensitivity of rats injected with 192 IgG-saporin into the basal forebrain. We found that 192 IgG-saporin-induced loss of cholinergic neurons was associated with an impairment of contrast sensitivity in the optimal spatial frequency ranges. Our results suggest that ACh contributes to maintain the visual function by optimally controlling the response gain in the visual cortex.

Free Research Field

実験心理学