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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 566/3/907    most recent jphysiol.2005.089987v1 Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kuczewski, N. Articles by Domenici, L. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kuczewski, N. Articles by Domenici, L.

¹ Cognitive Neuroscience Sector, International School for Advanced Studies (S.I.S.S.A), Trieste 34014, Italy
² Molecular Signalling Section, Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry, NIDDK, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA ³Institute of Neuroscience, CNR, 56100 Pisa, Italy

The central cholinergic system plays a crucial role in synaptic plasticity and spatial attention; however, the roles of the individual cholinergic receptors involved in these activities are not well understood at present. In the present study, we show that acetylcholine (ACh) can facilitate or depress synaptic transmission in occipital slices of mouse visual cortex. The precise nature of the ACh effects depends on the ACh concentration, and is input specific, as shown by stimulating different synaptic pathways. Pharmacological blockade of muscarinic receptor (mAChR) subtypes and the use of M₁–M₅ mAChR-deficient mice showed that specific mAChR subtypes, together with the activity of the cholinesterases (ChEs), mediate facilitation or depression of synaptic transmission. The present data suggest that local ACh, acting through mAChRs, regulates the cortical dynamics making cortical circuits respond to specific stimuli.

(Received 5 May 2005; accepted after revision 25 May 2005; first published online 26 May 2005)
Corresponding author L. Domenici: Cognitive Neuroscience Sector, SISSA, Via Beirut 2-4, 34014 Trieste, Italy. Email: domenici{at}in.cnr.it

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