Department of Anatomy and Histoembryology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
J Neurochem. 2023 Jul;166(2):233-247. doi: 10.1111/jnc.15873. Epub 2023 Jun 23.
The cholinergic neurons in the nucleus basalis of Meynert (NBM) are a key structure in cognition, the dysfunction of which is associated with various neurological disorders, especially dementias. However, the whole-brain neural connectivity to cholinergic neurons in the NBM remains to be further and comprehensively researched. Using virus-based, specific, retrograde, and anterograde tracing, we illustrated the monosynaptic inputs and axon projections of NBM cholinergic neurons in choline acetyltransferase (ChAT)-Cre transgenic mice. Our results showed that NBM cholinergic neurons received mainly inputs from the caudate putamen and the posterior limb of the anterior commissure in the subcortex. Moreover, the majority of cholinergic terminals from the NBM were observed in the cortex mantle, including the motor cortex, sensory cortex, and visual cortex. Interestingly, although NBM cholinergic neurons received input projections from the caudate putamen, interstitial nucleus of the posterior limb of the anterior commissure, and central amygdaloid nucleus, NBM cholinergic neurons sparsely sent axon projection to innervate these areas. Furthermore, primary motor cortex, secondary motor cortex, and primary somatosensory cortex received abundant inputs from the NBM but sent few outputs to the NBM. Taken together, our results reveal the detailed and specific connectivity of cholinergic neurons of the NBM and provide a neuroanatomic foundation for further studies to explore the important physiological functions of NBM cholinergic neurons.
基底前脑复合体（Meynert 核）中的胆碱能神经元是认知的关键结构，其功能障碍与各种神经紊乱有关，尤其是痴呆症。然而，基底前脑复合体胆碱能神经元的全脑神经连接仍有待进一步全面研究。我们使用基于病毒的、特异的、逆行和顺行示踪方法，说明了胆碱乙酰转移酶（ChAT）-Cre 转基因小鼠基底前脑复合体胆碱能神经元的单突触输入和轴突投射。我们的结果表明，基底前脑复合体胆碱能神经元主要接收来自纹状体和前连合后肢的输入。此外，大多数来自基底前脑复合体的胆碱能末梢位于皮质盖部，包括运动皮质、感觉皮质和视觉皮质。有趣的是，尽管基底前脑复合体胆碱能神经元接收来自纹状体、后连合间质核和杏仁中央核的输入投射，但基底前脑复合体胆碱能神经元稀疏地发送轴突投射到这些区域。此外，初级运动皮质、次级运动皮质和初级躯体感觉皮质从基底前脑复合体接收丰富的输入，但向基底前脑复合体发送的输出很少。总之，我们的结果揭示了基底前脑复合体胆碱能神经元的详细和特定连接，并为进一步研究基底前脑复合体胆碱能神经元的重要生理功能提供了神经解剖学基础。
