title: Cell-specific modulation of plasticity and cortical state by cholinergic inputs to the visual cortex.
abstract: Acetylcholine (ACh) modulates diverse vital brain functions. Cholinergic neurons from the basal forebrain innervate a wide range of cortical areas, including the primary visual cortex (V1), and multiple cortical cell types have been found to be responsive to ACh. Here we review how different cell types contribute to different cortical functions modulated by ACh. We specifically focus on two major cortical functions: plasticity and cortical state. In layer II/III of V1, ACh acting on astrocytes and somatostatin-expressing inhibitory neurons plays critical roles in these functions. Cell type specificity of cholinergic modulation points towards the growing understanding that even diffuse neurotransmitter systems can mediate specific functions through specific cell classes and receptors.
authors.affiliation: Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sugihara
authors.affiliation: McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Laboratory of Metabolic Medicine, Singapore Bioimaging Consortium, A(∗)STAR, Republic of Singapore.
authors.forename: Naiyan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. Electronic address: msur@mit.edu.
authors.forename: Mriganka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sur
mesh_terms: D000109:Acetylcholine / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D000109:Acetylcholine
keywords: Astrocytes; Decorrelation; Desynchronization; Inhibitory neurons; Potentiation; Somatostatin interneurons