Journal
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
Volume 30, Issue 27, Pages 9241-9252Publisher
SOC NEUROSCIENCE
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2258-10.2010
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Funding
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research [MOP 89825]
- Canada Research Chairs Program
- Canadian Foundation for Innovation
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Stimulation of the prefrontal cortex by acetylcholine is critical for attention; however, the cellular mechanisms underlying its influence on attention pathways within the brain are not well understood. Pyramidal neurons in layer VI of the prefrontal cortex are believed to play an important role in this process because they are excited by acetylcholine and provide a major source of feedback projections to the thalamus. Here, we show using whole-cell electrophysiology that the relatively rare alpha 5 subunit of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor powerfully enhances nicotinic currents in layer VI pyramidal neurons in prefrontal cortical brain slices from adult mice. In addition, behavioral experiments using the five-choice serial reaction time test show that the presence of the nicotinic receptor alpha 5 subunit also increases the accuracy of adult mice on this visual attention task under highly demanding conditions. Together, these findings demonstrate a novel and important role for the nicotinic receptor alpha 5 subunit in adult brain circuitry required for attentional performance.
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