The role of the basal forebrain in visual processing

There is a strong need to understand how our brain processes visual information and how different brain centers interact with each other. Vision is an essential sense in our life. Lack of such interaction disable performance of an attentive task or to memorize visual information. One of the structures heavily involved in cognitive processes and general brain activity is a Basal Forebrain (BF). This project is designed to investigate the Basal Forebrain’s role in visual information processing. The BF is the primary source of cholinergic inputs into the visual cortex, and therefore the main source of the acetylcholine neurotransmitter. We propose that cholinergic modulation coming from BF significantly impacts single neuronal responses of the primary visual cortex (V1) in Long-Evans rats. Precisely, we hypothesize that the BF cholinergic modulation will change single cells’ stimulus preference like optimal size, orientation selectivity. Furthermore, we assume that it has an even stronger impact on the visual system activity by changing the oscillations carrying information through the sensory systems. We attempt to investigate if only cholinergic inputs directly affect single cells in the V1 or there is needed additional involvement of GABAergic cells in the Basal Forebrain. In this aim, we use newly developed viral tools to target GABAergic or cholinergic cells in the BF specifically. By using opsins, that can be activated by particular light color, we manipulate basal forebrain activity and correlate it with encoding in the V1. We also hypothesize that such manipulations will significantly impact behavioral performance and pattern recognition due to more robust activity while performing attentive tasks.

Image: Cartoon visualization of the viral injection into the V1 and retrogradely targeting specifically GABAergic or cholinergic cells in the BF. Labeled cells in the thalamus (LGN or LP) will be proof that Rabies viral tracing works appropriately.

Text: Andrzej Foik, PhD habil.

Team:

Andrzej Foik, PhD habil.

Katarzyna Kordecka, PhD

Anna Galińska, MSc Eng

Hubert Doleżyczek, PhD

Bartłomiej Bałamut, MSc Eng

Keywords: basal forebrain, primary visual cortex, acetylcholine, GABA, vision, visual processing.

References:

P. Węgrzyn, W. Kulesza, M. Wielgo, S. Tomczewski, A. Galińska, B. Bałamut, K. Kordecka, O. Cetinkaya, A. Foik, R. J. Zawadzki, D. Borycki, M. Wojtkowski, A. Curatolo „In vivo volumetric analysis of retinal vascular hemodynamics in mice with spatio-temporal optical coherence tomography” Neurophotonics. 11(4):0450031-4500322. (2024) https//doi: 10.1117/1.NPh.11.4.045003

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