Distinct Changes in Cortical Acetylcholine and Noradrenaline Efflux during Contingent and Noncontingent Performance of a Visual Attentional Task
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Optimization of cognitive processing may depend on specific and distinct functions of the cortical cholinergic and noradrenergic systems. This investigation dissociates functions of cortical acetylcholine (ACh) and noradrenaline (NA) in arousal and visual attention by simultaneously measuring ACh and NA efflux in the rat prefrontal cortex during sustained attentional performance. The five-choice serial reaction time task was used to provide a continuous assessment of visuospatial attention. Previous studies using this task have established a critical role for the cortical cholinergic system in the detection of visual targets. However, selective lesions of the locus coeruleus noradrenergic system impair performance only when additional attentional demands are placed on the subject by distractors or temporally unpredictable targets. To test the hypothesis that the cortical noradrenergic system is particularly sensitive to novel task contingencies, we also assessed NA and ACh efflux in rats that been trained previously on the task but for whom the instrumental contingency coupling responding with stimulus detection and reward was abolished. Cortical ACh efflux showed a robust and task-related increase during established contingent performance. This response was significantly attenuated in noncontingent subjects, although it still exceeded pretask values. In contrast, NA efflux only increased transiently in contingent subjects after task onset but showed sustained elevations in noncontingent subjects on the first day when contingencies were changed. These data also implicate cortical ACh in aspects of attentional functioning but highlight a specific involvement of the cortical noradrenergic system in detecting shifts in the predictive relationship between instrumental action and reinforcement.
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A tonic component of cholinergic neurotransmission may also contribute to alerting and thereby to successful orienting.
“Although other neuromodulator systems, specifically the noradrenergic system (e.g., Witte and Marrocco, 1997; Posner, 2008), have been proposed to contribute to alerting, in the context of a circuitry model (below), we will suggest that a tonic component of cholinergic neurotransmission may also contribute to alerting and thereby to successful orienting, perhaps in part via local cortical and”
From Modes and models of forebrain cholinergic neuromodulation of cognition (2011) · cites this paper as Dalley et al, 2001
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- Authors
- Dalley, J. W., McGaughy, J., O'Connell, M. T., Cardinal, R. N., Levita, L., & Robbins, T. W.
- Affiliations
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- Venue
- The Journal of Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Society for Neuroscience
- Published
- 2001-07-01
- Volume
- 21
- Issue
- 13
- Pages
- 4908-4914
- ISSN
- 0270-6474 (ISSN-L)
- 1529-2401
- PMC
- PMC6762350
- OpenAlex
- W2118684220
- Cited by
- 277
- References
- 36
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 20
- FWCI
- 5.03
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Wellcome Trust
- University of Cambridge
- Medical Research Council
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
- Keywords
- acetylcholine efflux, noradrenaline efflux, prefrontal cortex, visuospatial attention, sustained attention, 5-choice serial reaction time task, locus coeruleus, arousal, attentional shift, predictive relationships, operant conditioning, rats
- MeSH terms
- Acetylcholine, Analysis of Variance, Animals, Arousal, Attention, Behavior, Animal, Choice Behavior, Cognition, Male, Norepinephrine, Photic Stimulation, Rats, Inbred Strains, Reaction Time, Reinforcement, Psychology, Prefrontal Cortex, Microdialysis, Rats
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