Cargando…

Boosting visual cortex function and plasticity with acetylcholine to enhance visual perception

The cholinergic system is a potent neuromodulatory system that plays critical roles in cortical plasticity, attention and learning. In this review, we propose that the cellular effects of acetylcholine (ACh) in the primary visual cortex during the processing of visual inputs might induce perceptual...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Kang, Jun Il, Huppé-Gourgues, Frédéric, Vaucher, Elvire
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4167004/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25278848
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnsys.2014.00172
_version_ 1782335361948581888
author Kang, Jun Il
Huppé-Gourgues, Frédéric
Vaucher, Elvire
author_facet Kang, Jun Il
Huppé-Gourgues, Frédéric
Vaucher, Elvire
author_sort Kang, Jun Il
collection PubMed
description The cholinergic system is a potent neuromodulatory system that plays critical roles in cortical plasticity, attention and learning. In this review, we propose that the cellular effects of acetylcholine (ACh) in the primary visual cortex during the processing of visual inputs might induce perceptual learning; i.e., long-term changes in visual perception. Specifically, the pairing of cholinergic activation with visual stimulation increases the signal-to-noise ratio, cue detection ability and long-term facilitation in the primary visual cortex. This cholinergic enhancement would increase the strength of thalamocortical afferents to facilitate the treatment of a novel stimulus while decreasing the cortico-cortical signaling to reduce recurrent or top-down modulation. This balance would be mediated by different cholinergic receptor subtypes that are located on both glutamatergic and GABAergic neurons of the different cortical layers. The mechanisms of cholinergic enhancement are closely linked to attentional processes, long-term potentiation (LTP) and modulation of the excitatory/inhibitory balance. Recently, it was found that boosting the cholinergic system during visual training robustly enhances sensory perception in a long-term manner. Our hypothesis is that repetitive pairing of cholinergic and sensory stimulation over a long period of time induces long-term changes in the processing of trained stimuli that might improve perceptual ability. Various non-invasive approaches to the activation of the cholinergic neurons have strong potential to improve visual perception.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-4167004
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2014
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-41670042014-10-02 Boosting visual cortex function and plasticity with acetylcholine to enhance visual perception Kang, Jun Il Huppé-Gourgues, Frédéric Vaucher, Elvire Front Syst Neurosci Neuroscience The cholinergic system is a potent neuromodulatory system that plays critical roles in cortical plasticity, attention and learning. In this review, we propose that the cellular effects of acetylcholine (ACh) in the primary visual cortex during the processing of visual inputs might induce perceptual learning; i.e., long-term changes in visual perception. Specifically, the pairing of cholinergic activation with visual stimulation increases the signal-to-noise ratio, cue detection ability and long-term facilitation in the primary visual cortex. This cholinergic enhancement would increase the strength of thalamocortical afferents to facilitate the treatment of a novel stimulus while decreasing the cortico-cortical signaling to reduce recurrent or top-down modulation. This balance would be mediated by different cholinergic receptor subtypes that are located on both glutamatergic and GABAergic neurons of the different cortical layers. The mechanisms of cholinergic enhancement are closely linked to attentional processes, long-term potentiation (LTP) and modulation of the excitatory/inhibitory balance. Recently, it was found that boosting the cholinergic system during visual training robustly enhances sensory perception in a long-term manner. Our hypothesis is that repetitive pairing of cholinergic and sensory stimulation over a long period of time induces long-term changes in the processing of trained stimuli that might improve perceptual ability. Various non-invasive approaches to the activation of the cholinergic neurons have strong potential to improve visual perception. Frontiers Media S.A. 2014-09-18 /pmc/articles/PMC4167004/ /pubmed/25278848 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnsys.2014.00172 Text en Copyright © 2014 Kang, Huppé-Gourgues and Vaucher. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Neuroscience
Kang, Jun Il
Huppé-Gourgues, Frédéric
Vaucher, Elvire
Boosting visual cortex function and plasticity with acetylcholine to enhance visual perception
title Boosting visual cortex function and plasticity with acetylcholine to enhance visual perception
title_full Boosting visual cortex function and plasticity with acetylcholine to enhance visual perception
title_fullStr Boosting visual cortex function and plasticity with acetylcholine to enhance visual perception
title_full_unstemmed Boosting visual cortex function and plasticity with acetylcholine to enhance visual perception
title_short Boosting visual cortex function and plasticity with acetylcholine to enhance visual perception
title_sort boosting visual cortex function and plasticity with acetylcholine to enhance visual perception
topic Neuroscience
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4167004/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25278848
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnsys.2014.00172
work_keys_str_mv AT kangjunil boostingvisualcortexfunctionandplasticitywithacetylcholinetoenhancevisualperception
AT huppegourguesfrederic boostingvisualcortexfunctionandplasticitywithacetylcholinetoenhancevisualperception
AT vaucherelvire boostingvisualcortexfunctionandplasticitywithacetylcholinetoenhancevisualperception