title: Basal forebrain control of wakefulness and cortical rhythms.
abstract: Wakefulness, along with fast cortical rhythms and associated cognition, depend on the basal forebrain (BF). BF cholinergic cell loss in dementia and the sedative effect of anti-cholinergic drugs have long implicated these neurons as important for cognition and wakefulness. The BF also contains intermingled inhibitory GABAergic and excitatory glutamatergic cell groups whose exact neurobiological roles are unclear. Here we show that genetically targeted chemogenetic activation of BF cholinergic or glutamatergic neurons in behaving mice produced significant effects on state consolidation and/or the electroencephalogram but had no effect on total wake. Similar activation of BF GABAergic neurons produced sustained wakefulness and high-frequency cortical rhythms, whereas chemogenetic inhibition increased sleep. Our findings reveal a major contribution of BF GABAergic neurons to wakefulness and the fast cortical rhythms associated with cognition. These findings may be clinically applicable to manipulations aimed at increasing forebrain activation in dementia and the minimally conscious state.
authors.affiliation: Division of Sleep Medicine, Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Christelle
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Anaclet
authors.affiliation: Division of Sleep Medicine, Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.|Comprehensive Epilepsy Clinic, Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Nigel P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Pedersen
authors.affiliation: Division of Sleep Medicine, Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Loris L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Ferrari
authors.affiliation: Division of Sleep Medicine, Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Venner
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14214, USA.
authors.forename: Caroline E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Bass
authors.affiliation: Division of Sleep Medicine, Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Elda
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Arrigoni
authors.affiliation: Division of Sleep Medicine, Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Patrick M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Fuller
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D066187:Basal Forebrain / Q000502:physiology*; D058256:Brain Waves / Q000502:physiology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D059329:Cholinergic Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D059330:GABAergic Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D018698:Glutamic Acid; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D051379:Mice; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / Q000378:metabolism; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology; D012895:Sleep, REM / Q000502:physiology*; D014851:Wakefulness / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos; D018698:Glutamic Acid