Galanin, a 29-amino-acid neuropeptide, is generally viewed as an inhibitory neuromodulator in a variety of central systems. Galanin expression is upregulated in the cholinergic basal forebrain nuclei in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and is postulated to play an important role in memory and cognitive function. In this study, application of galanin to acutely dissociated rat neurons from the basal for...

Mice were generated expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) under the control of the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) promoter. Green fluorescence was observed in, and restricted to, GnRH-immunopositive neuronal somata in the olfactory bulb, ganglion terminale, septal nuclei, diagonal band of Broca (DBB), preoptic area (POA), and caudal hypothalamus, as well as GnRH neuronal dendrites a...

It has been suggested that the basal forebrain (BF) exerts strong influences on the formation of memory and behavior. However, what information is used for the memory-behavior formation is unclear. We found that a population of neurons in the medial BF (medial septum and diagonal band of Broca) of macaque monkeys encodes a unique combination of information: reward uncertainty, expected reward v...

The anatomical organization of the basal forebrain cholinergic system with emphasis on the basal magnocellular nucleus, was studied by means of the choline acetyltransferase immunohistochemistry. The basal forebrain cholinergic system extends from the medial septum to the caudal part of the globus pallidus, and is organized as a continuous valley of cholinergic neurons. The arrangement of choli...

Cognitive impairment is a common comorbidity in pediatric epilepsy that can severely affect quality of life. In many cases, antiepileptic treatments fail to improve cognition. Therefore, a fundamental question is whether underlying brain abnormalities may contribute to cognitive impairment through mechanisms independent of seizures. Here, we examined the possible effects on cognition of Nav1.1 ...

We investigated the role of the septo-hippocampal cholinergic projection in anxiety, spatial novelty preference, and differential reward for low rates of responding (DRL) performance. Cholinergic neurons of the rat medial septum (MS) and the vertical limb of the diagonal band of Broca (VDB) were lesioned using the selective immunotoxin, 192 IgG-saporin. Rats were then tested on several behavior...

E. De Rosa and M. E. Hasselmo (2000) demonstrated that 0.25 mg/kg scopolamine (SCOP) selectively increased proactive interference (PI) from stored odor memories during learning. In the present study, rats with bilateral cholinergic lesions limited to the horizontal limb of the diagonal band of Broca, made with 192 IgG-saporin, were not impaired in acquiring the same olfactory discrimination tas...

The medial habenula (MHb) plays an important role in nicotine-related behaviors such as nicotine aversion and withdrawal. The MHb receives GABAergic input from the medial septum/diagonal band of Broca (MS/DB), yet the synaptic mechanism that regulates MHb activity is unclear. GABA (γ -aminobutyric acid) is a major inhibitory neurotransmitter activating both GABAA receptors and GABAB receptors. ...