Nicotinic modulation of frontal circuits breaks the cycle of attentional performance failure
The ability to recover from consecutive failures is critical for adaptive behavior, yet the underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear. In vivo screening of neuromodulatory inputs onto frontal-sensory cognitive control circuit identified a frontal cholinergic mechanism that counteracts lapses in attentional engagement following repeated errors. Cholinergic input from the basal forebrain to the…
The capacity to recover from consecutive failures plays a crucial role in adaptive behavior, but the neural mechanisms behind this ability are not fully understood. Researchers conducted an in vivo examination of neuromodulatory inputs affecting frontal-sensory cognitive control circuits and discovered a frontal cholinergic mechanism that interrupts lapses in attentional engagement after repeated errors.
This cholinergic input, originating from the basal forebrain and targeting frontal cortex neurons, was both necessary and sufficient to restore performance following errors, specifically in instances of repeated failures, as opposed to a single failure. This effect was attributed to 7-nicotinic acetylcholine receptors within frontal-sensory cortical neurons, which maintained cortical circuit activity and frontal-sensory cortical oscillations during attentional engagement.
When these neurons were selectively activated using optogenetic techniques, the cycle of attentional performance failure was disrupted, and behavioral performance was reinstated in a mouse model of a neuropsychiatric syndrome. These findings shed light on a circuit-level mechanism of cholinergic control that provides cognitive resilience under persistent failure conditions.
Written by urgent.news from bioRxiv's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
