Neuronal activity of the nucleus basalis of Meynert (NBM) is increased by nociceptive stimulation of paws in anesthetized rats

1989 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 39
Author(s):  
Takao Akaishi ◽  
Akio Sato
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Nazmuddin ◽  
Ingrid H. C. H. M. Philippens ◽  
Teus van Laar

AbstractDeep brain stimulation (DBS) of the nucleus basalis of Meynert (NBM) has been clinically investigated in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Lewy body dementia (LBD). However, the clinical effects are highly variable, which questions the suggested basic principles underlying these clinical trials. Therefore, preclinical and clinical data on the design of NBM stimulation experiments and its effects on behavioral and neurophysiological aspects are systematically reviewed here. Animal studies have shown that electrical stimulation of the NBM enhanced cognition, increased the release of acetylcholine, enhanced cerebral blood flow, released several neuroprotective factors, and facilitates plasticity of cortical and subcortical receptive fields. However, the translation of these outcomes to current clinical practice is hampered by the fact that mainly animals with an intact NBM were used, whereas most animals were stimulated unilaterally, with different stimulation paradigms for only restricted timeframes. Future animal research has to refine the NBM stimulation methods, using partially lesioned NBM nuclei, to better resemble the clinical situation in AD, and LBD. More preclinical data on the effect of stimulation of lesioned NBM should be present, before DBS of the NBM in human is explored further.


1997 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 686-694 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elvire Vaucher ◽  
Josiane Borredon ◽  
Gilles Bonvento ◽  
Jacques Seylaz ◽  
Pierre Lacombe

We earlier reported that electrical stimulation of the rat nucleus basalis of Meynert (NBM) induces large cerebral blood flow increases, particularly in frontal cortical areas but also in some subcortical regions. The present study was designed to address the issue of blood flow control exerted by NBM projections. To this aim, we have determined whether these flow increases were associated with proportionate changes in metabolic activity as evaluated by cerebral glucose utilization (CGU) strictly under the same experimental conditions in the conscious rat. An electrode was chronically implanted in a reactive site of the NBM as determined by laser-Doppler flowmetry (LDF) of the cortical circulation. One to two weeks later, while the cortical blood flow was monitored by LDF, we measured CGU using the [14C]2-deoxyglucose autoradiographic technique during unilateral electrical stimulation of the NBM, and analyzed the local flow-metabolism relationship. The large increases in cortical blood flow induced by NBM stimulation, exceeding 300% in various frontal areas, were associated with at most 24% increases in CGU (as compared with the control group) in one frontal area. By contrast, strong increases in CGU exceeding 150% were observed in subcortical regions ipsilateral to the stimulation, especially in extrapyramidal structures, associated with proportionate CBF changes. Thus, none of the blood flow changes observed in the cortex can be ascribed to an increased metabolic activity, whereas CBF and CGU were coupled in many subcortical areas. This result indicates that different mechanisms, which do not necessarily involve any metabolic factor, contribute to the regulation of the cerebral circulation at the cortical and subcortical level. Because the distribution of the uncoupling is coincident with that of cholinergic NBM projections directly reaching cortical microvessels, these data strongly support the hypothesis that NBM neurons are capable of exerting a neurogenic control of the cortical microcirculation.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document