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Increases in cortical acetylcholine release during sustained attention performance in rats
Abstract
Acetylcholine (ACh) efflux in the frontoparietal cortex was studied with in vivo microdialysis while rats performed in an operant task designed to assess sustained attention. Transferring animals from the baseline environment into the operant chambers elicited a robust increase in cortical ACh efflux that persisted throughout the 18-min pre-task period. Subsequent performance in the 36-min sustained attention task was associated with further significant increases in frontoparietal ACh efflux, while the termination of the task resulted in a delayed decline in ACh levels. Upon the 12-min presentation of a visual distracter (flashing houselight, 0.5 Hz) during task performance, animals initially developed a significant response bias to the left lever in the first 6-min distracter block, reflecting a reduction of attentional effort. Under continued conditions of increased attentional demand, performance recovered during the second 6-min distracter block. This return to attentional processing was accompanied by an increase in cortical ACh efflux, suggesting that the augmentation of attentional demand produced by the distracter elicited further increases in ACh release. The enhancement of cortical ACh efflux observed prior to task performance implies the presence of complex relationships between cortical ACh release and anticipatory and/or contextual factors related to operant performance and attentional processing. This finding, along with the further increases in cortical ACh efflux associated with task performance, extends hypotheses regarding the crucial role of cortical cholinergic transmission for attentional functions. Furthermore, the effects of the distracter stimulus provide evidence for a direct relationship between attentional effort and cortical ACh release.
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“In contrast, distractor stimuli in the sustained attention task should not evoke cholinergic transients (Himmelheber et al, 2000; Gill et al, 2000; Howe et al, unpublished results).”
From Modes and models of forebrain cholinergic neuromodulation of cognition (2011) · cites this paper as Himmelheber et al, 2000
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Metadata
- Authors
- Himmelheber, A. M., Sarter, M., & Bruno, J. P.
- Affiliations
- The Ohio State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Bruno, John P
- Venue
- Cognitive Brain Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2000-06
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 313-325
- ISSN
- 0926-6410 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2063060972
- Cited by
- 261
- References
- 35
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 17 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 13
- FWCI
- 3.88
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Cognitive Brain Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH057436, MH57436)
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NS32938, NS37026, R01NS037026, R01NS032938)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Mind wandering and attention
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Keywords
- acetylcholine release, sustained attention, frontoparietal cortex, cholinergic neurotransmission, attentional effort, response bias, rats
- MeSH terms
- Acetylcholine, Animals, Attention, Cerebral Cortex, Conditioning, Operant, Habituation, Psychophysiologic, Male, Synaptic Transmission, Psychomotor Performance, Rats, Inbred F344, Prosencephalon, Microdialysis, Rats
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