A cholinergic auditory pathway

Zhu et al. show that basal forebrain cholinergic neurons send fast, specific information about a broad range of sensory stimuli to the auditory cortex, modulated by slower fluctuations in cholinergic activity. These findings help us to understand how the cholinergic system multiplexes diverse representations to fulfil its multifaceted roles in attention, learning and memory.

Automated summary

The study shows that basal forebrain cholinergic neurons transmit fast and specific information about various sensory stimuli to the auditory cortex, which is modulated by slower fluctuations in cholinergic activity. These findings enhance our understanding of how the cholinergic system fulfills its diverse roles in attention, learning, and memory by encoding multiple representations.