Trajectories of cholinergic pathways within the cerebral hemispheres of the human brain
Abstract
All sectors of the human cerebral cortex receive dense cholinergic input. The origin of this projection is located in the Ch4 cell group of the nucleus basalis of Meynert. However, very little is known about the location of the pathways which link the cholinergic neurons of the nucleus basalis to the human cerebral cortex. This question was addressed in whole-hemisphere sections processed for the visualization of multiple cholinergic markers. Two highly organized and discrete bundles of cholinergic fibres extended from the nucleus basalis to the cerebral cortex and amygdala and were designated as the medial and lateral cholinergic pathways. These bundles contained acetylcholinesterase, choline acetyltransferase and nerve growth factor receptors, confirming their cholinergic nature and origin within the basal forebrain. The medial pathway joined the white matter of the gyrus rectus, curved around the rostrum of the corpus callosum to enter the cingulum and merged with fibres of the lateral pathway within the occipital lobe. It supplied the parolfactory, cingulate, pericingulate and retrosplenial cortices. The lateral pathway was subdivided into a capsular division travelling in the white matter of the external capsule and uncinate fasciculus and a perisylvian division travelling within the claustrum. Branches of the perisylvian division supplied the frontoparietal operculum, insula and superior temporal gyrus. Branches of the capsular division innervated the remaining parts of…
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Many cholinergic fibres from nucleus basalis of Meynert in the basal forebrain join the cingulum to run above the corpus callosum and innervate the length of the cingulate gyrus, as well as superior frontal cortices.
“Many cholinergic fibres from nucleus basalis of Meynert in the basal forebrain join the cingulum to run above the corpus callosum and innervate the length of the cingulate gyrus, as well as superior frontal cortices (Kitt et al., 1987; see also Selden et al., 1998 for corresponding human data).”
From The cingulum bundle: Anatomy, function, and dysfunction (2018) · cites this paper as Selden et al., 1998
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“The NBM also provides cholinergic innervation to many cortical regions of the social brain, including the superior temporal sulcus (STS) (Selden et al., 1998), a region involved in face processing, the detection of gaze direction, and gaze following.”
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- Authors
- Selden, N.
- Affiliations
- Northwestern University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Selden, N.
- ORCID
- Selden, N.
- Venue
- Brain
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 1998-12-01
- Volume
- 121
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 2249-2257
- ISSN
- 0006-8950 (ISSN-L)
- 1460-2156
- OpenAlex
- W2137599726
- Cited by
- 657
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 26 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 27 · 2017: 24 · 2016: 22 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 18 · 2013: 31 · 2012: 29
- FWCI
- 1.58
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Brain (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (5r01ns020285-15)
- National Institute on Aging (1-P30 AG13854, P30AG013854)
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NS 20285)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Cholinesterase and Neurodegenerative Diseases
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Keywords
- cholinergic pathways, nucleus basalis of Meynert, acetylcholinesterase, choline acetyltransferase, nerve growth factor receptor, corpus callosum, cingulum, claustrum, uncinate fasciculus, white matter, amygdala, human cerebral cortex
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Brain, Brain Mapping, Cerebral Cortex, Cholinergic Fibers, Female, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Neural Pathways, Substantia Innominata
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