A disinhibitory basal forebrain-to-cortex projection supports sustained attention

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Sustained attention is crucial for performance but its neural basis is unclear.
• Basal forebrain modulates cortical activity, but the role of cholinergic neurons is debated.
• Alternative basal forebrain cell types mediating attention require investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify the specific neural circuits in the basal forebrain that regulate sustained attention.
• To investigate the causal role of basal forebrain parvalbumin-expressing (BF-PV) neurons in attention.
• To elucidate the mechanism by which BF-PV neurons influence cortical processing and attention.

Main Methods:

• Electrophysiological recordings in mice performing an attention task.
• Optogenetic manipulation of BF-PV neuron activity.
• Computational modeling to link neural activity to behavior.
• Anatomical tracing to identify synaptic targets.

Main Results:

• BF-PV neuron activity correlated with trial-by-trial variations in attention metrics (reaction time, accuracy).
• Optogenetic activation of BF-PV neurons enhanced attention; inhibition impaired it, establishing causality.
• BF-PV neurons responded to motivationally salient stimuli, irrespective of valence.
• BF-PV neurons inhibit cortical interneurons, leading to disinhibitory amplification of cortical signals.

Conclusions:

• BF-PV neurons are essential mediators of sustained attention.
• A disinhibitory BF-to-cortex pathway regulates cortical gain based on motivational salience.
• This mechanism enhances detection sensitivity and promotes sustained attention.