Stress Regulation of Sustained Attention and the Cholinergic Attention System.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Stress exacerbates symptoms of schizophrenia and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, which are characterized by impairments in sustained attention. Yet how stress regulates attention remains largely unexplored. We investigated whether a 6-day variable stressor altered sustained attention and the cholinergic attention system in male and female rats.

Methods

Sustained attention was tested with the sustained attention task. Successful performance on the sustained attention task relies on the release of acetylcholine (ACh) into the cortex from cholinergic neurons in the nucleus basalis of Meynert (NBM). Thus, we evaluated whether variable stress (VS) altered the morphology of these neurons with a novel approach using a Cre-dependent virus in genetically modified

SUBMITTER: Eck SR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7487022 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature