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The Basal Forebrain Cholinergic Nuclei and Their Relevance to Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders

The basal forebrain cholinergic nuclei (BFCN) provide the main cholinergic input to prefrontal cortices, the hippocampi, and amygdala. These structures are highly relevant for the regulation and maintenance of many cognitive functions, such as attention and memory. In vivo neuroimaging studies repor...

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Autores principales: Eickhoff, Sofia, Franzen, Leon, Korda, Alexandra, Rogg, Helena, Trulley, Valerie-Noelle, Borgwardt, Stefan, Avram, Mihai
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9299093/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35873225
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.909961
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author Eickhoff, Sofia
Franzen, Leon
Korda, Alexandra
Rogg, Helena
Trulley, Valerie-Noelle
Borgwardt, Stefan
Avram, Mihai
author_facet Eickhoff, Sofia
Franzen, Leon
Korda, Alexandra
Rogg, Helena
Trulley, Valerie-Noelle
Borgwardt, Stefan
Avram, Mihai
author_sort Eickhoff, Sofia
collection PubMed
description The basal forebrain cholinergic nuclei (BFCN) provide the main cholinergic input to prefrontal cortices, the hippocampi, and amygdala. These structures are highly relevant for the regulation and maintenance of many cognitive functions, such as attention and memory. In vivo neuroimaging studies reported alterations of the cholinergic system in psychotic disorders. Particularly, a downregulation of nicotinic and muscarinic acetylcholine receptors has been found. Crucially, such alterations in neurotransmission have been associated with cognitive impairments and positive and negative symptoms. Recent pharmacological studies support these findings, as they demonstrated an association between the manipulation of cholinergic transmission and an attenuation in symptom severity. Targeting acetylcholine receptors has therefore become a focus for the development of novel psychopharmacological drugs. However, many open questions remain. For instance, it remains elusive what causes such alterations in neurotransmission. While evidence supports the idea that BFCN structural integrity is altered in schizophrenia, it remains to be determined whether this is also present in other psychotic disorders. Furthermore, it is unclear when throughout the course of the disorder these alterations make their appearance and whether they reflect changes in the BFCN alone or rather aberrant interactions between the BFCN and other brain areas. In this review, the specific role of the BFCN and their projections are discussed from a neuroimaging perspective and with a focus on psychotic disorders alongside future directions. These directions set the stage for the development of new treatment targets for psychotic disorders.
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spelling pubmed-92990932022-07-21 The Basal Forebrain Cholinergic Nuclei and Their Relevance to Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders Eickhoff, Sofia Franzen, Leon Korda, Alexandra Rogg, Helena Trulley, Valerie-Noelle Borgwardt, Stefan Avram, Mihai Front Psychiatry Psychiatry The basal forebrain cholinergic nuclei (BFCN) provide the main cholinergic input to prefrontal cortices, the hippocampi, and amygdala. These structures are highly relevant for the regulation and maintenance of many cognitive functions, such as attention and memory. In vivo neuroimaging studies reported alterations of the cholinergic system in psychotic disorders. Particularly, a downregulation of nicotinic and muscarinic acetylcholine receptors has been found. Crucially, such alterations in neurotransmission have been associated with cognitive impairments and positive and negative symptoms. Recent pharmacological studies support these findings, as they demonstrated an association between the manipulation of cholinergic transmission and an attenuation in symptom severity. Targeting acetylcholine receptors has therefore become a focus for the development of novel psychopharmacological drugs. However, many open questions remain. For instance, it remains elusive what causes such alterations in neurotransmission. While evidence supports the idea that BFCN structural integrity is altered in schizophrenia, it remains to be determined whether this is also present in other psychotic disorders. Furthermore, it is unclear when throughout the course of the disorder these alterations make their appearance and whether they reflect changes in the BFCN alone or rather aberrant interactions between the BFCN and other brain areas. In this review, the specific role of the BFCN and their projections are discussed from a neuroimaging perspective and with a focus on psychotic disorders alongside future directions. These directions set the stage for the development of new treatment targets for psychotic disorders. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-07-06 /pmc/articles/PMC9299093/ /pubmed/35873225 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.909961 Text en Copyright © 2022 Eickhoff, Franzen, Korda, Rogg, Trulley, Borgwardt and Avram. https://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) and the copyright owner(s) 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 Psychiatry
Eickhoff, Sofia
Franzen, Leon
Korda, Alexandra
Rogg, Helena
Trulley, Valerie-Noelle
Borgwardt, Stefan
Avram, Mihai
The Basal Forebrain Cholinergic Nuclei and Their Relevance to Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders
title The Basal Forebrain Cholinergic Nuclei and Their Relevance to Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders
title_full The Basal Forebrain Cholinergic Nuclei and Their Relevance to Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders
title_fullStr The Basal Forebrain Cholinergic Nuclei and Their Relevance to Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders
title_full_unstemmed The Basal Forebrain Cholinergic Nuclei and Their Relevance to Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders
title_short The Basal Forebrain Cholinergic Nuclei and Their Relevance to Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders
title_sort basal forebrain cholinergic nuclei and their relevance to schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders
topic Psychiatry
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9299093/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35873225
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.909961
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