title: Control of cerebral cortical blood flow by stimulation of basal forebrain cholinergic areas in mice.
abstract: We examined whether activity of the nucleus basalis of Meynert (NBM) regulates regional cerebral cortical blood flow (rCBF) in mice, using laser speckle and laser Doppler flowmetry. In anesthetized mice, unilateral focal stimulation, either electrical or chemical, of the NBM increased rCBF of the ipsilateral cerebral cortex in the frontal, parietal and occipital lobes, independent of changes in systemic blood pressure. Most of vasodilative responses to low intensity stimuli (2 times threshold intensity: 2T) were abolished by atropine (a muscarinic cholinergic blocker), whereas responses to higher intensity stimuli (3T) were abolished by atropine and mecamylamine (a nicotinic cholinergic blocker). Blood flow changes were largest when the tip of the electrode was located within the area containing cholinergic neurons shown by choline acetyltransferase-immunocytochemistry. These results suggest that cholinergic projections from basal forebrain neurons in mice cause vasodilation in the ipsilateral cerebral cortex by a combination of muscarinic and nicotinic mechanisms, as previously found in rats and cats.
authors.affiliation: Department of Autonomic Neuroscience, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, 35-2 Sakae-cho, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo, 173-0015, Japan. hhotta@tmig.or.jp
authors.forename: Harumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hotta
authors.forename: Sae
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Uchida
authors.forename: Fusako
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kagitani
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Maruyama
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001285:Atropine / Q000494:pharmacology; D020532:Basal Nucleus of Meynert / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000098:blood supply*; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D002799:Cholinergic Fibers / Q000502:physiology*; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008464:Mecamylamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D051379:Mice; D018727:Muscarinic Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D018733:Nicotinic Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D016548:Prosencephalon / Q000502:physiology; D012039:Regional Blood Flow / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D014664:Vasodilation / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D018727:Muscarinic Antagonists; D018733:Nicotinic Antagonists; D008464:Mecamylamine; D001285:Atropine