Hyperconnectivity of two separate long-range cholinergic systems contributes to the reorganization of the brain functional connectivity during nicotine withdrawal in male mice.

ABSTRACT: Chronic nicotine results in dependence with withdrawal symptoms upon discontinuation of use, through desensitization of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors and altered cholinergic neurotransmission. Nicotine withdrawal is associated with increased whole-brain functional connectivity and decreased network modularity, however, the role of cholinergic neurons in those changes is unknown. To identify the contribution of nicotinic receptors and cholinergic regions to changes in the functional network, we analyzed the contribution of the main cholinergic regions to brain-wide activation of the immediate early-gene FOS during withdrawal in male mice and correlated these changes with the expression of nicotinic receptor mRNA throughout the brain. We show that the main functional connectivity modules

SUBMITTER: Carrette LLG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10081261 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature