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Acetylcholine contributes through muscarinic receptors to attentional modulation in V1

Abstract

Attention exerts a strong influence over neuronal processing in cortical areas1,2. It selectively increases firing rates2,3,4 and affects tuning properties1,5, including changing receptive field locations and sizes3,6. Although these effects are well studied, their cellular mechanisms are poorly understood. To study the cellular mechanisms, we combined iontophoretic pharmacological analysis of cholinergic receptors with single cell recordings in V1 while rhesus macaque monkeys (Macaca mulatta) performed a task that demanded top-down spatial attention. Attending to the receptive field of the V1 neuron under study caused an increase in firing rates. Here we show that this attentional modulation was enhanced by low doses of acetylcholine. Furthermore, applying the muscarinic antagonist scopolamine reduced attentional modulation, whereas the nicotinic antagonist mecamylamine had no systematic effect. These results demonstrate that muscarinic cholinergic mechanisms play a central part in mediating the effects of attention in V1.

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Figure 1: Drug effects on attentional modulation.
Figure 2: Acetylcholine effects on attentional modulation.
Figure 3: Effect of the muscarinic antagonist scopolamine on attentional modulation.
Figure 4: Effect of the nicotinic antagonist mecamylamine on attentional modulation.

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Acknowledgements

The work was supported by the BBSRC (BBS/B/09325), the Wellcome Trust (070380/Z/03/Z) and the Gatsby Charitable Foundation.

Author Contributions J.L.H., M.J.R., L.S.D. and M.A.G. performed the experimental work; A.T. and P.D. did the project planning; A.T., J.L.H. and M.J.R. did the data analysis; A.T. and P.D. wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to A. Thiele.

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Herrero, J., Roberts, M., Delicato, L. et al. Acetylcholine contributes through muscarinic receptors to attentional modulation in V1. Nature 454, 1110–1114 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07141

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