title: Calcium Imaging of Basal Forebrain Activity during Innate and Learned Behaviors.
abstract: The basal forebrain (BF) plays crucial roles in arousal, attention, and memory, and its impairment is associated with a variety of cognitive deficits. The BF consists of cholinergic, GABAergic, and glutamatergic neurons. Electrical or optogenetic stimulation of BF cholinergic neurons enhances cortical processing and behavioral performance, but the natural activity of these cells during behavior is only beginning to be characterized. Even less is known about GABAergic and glutamatergic neurons. Here, we performed microendoscopic calcium imaging of BF neurons as mice engaged in spontaneous behaviors in their home cages (innate) or performed a go/no-go auditory discrimination task (learned). Cholinergic neurons were consistently excited during movement, including running and licking, but GABAergic and glutamatergic neurons exhibited diverse responses. All cell types were activated by overt punishment, either inside or outside of the discrimination task. These findings reveal functional similarities and distinctions between BF cell types during both spontaneous and task-related behaviors.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurobiology, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Harrison
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurobiology, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Lucas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pinto
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurobiology, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Julien R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Brock
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurobiology, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D066187:Basal Forebrain / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D020013:Calcium Signaling / Q000502:physiology*; D059329:Cholinergic Neurons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D059330:GABAergic Neurons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence
chemical_list: D018698:Glutamic Acid
keywords: auditory discrimination; basal forebrain; behavior; calcium imaging; free moving; mouse