The cholinergic system and visual attention: From animal to man

The cholinergic system plays a role in several cognitive functions including learning or attention, and has been implicated in several neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. The aim of this symposium is to present recent advances in our understanding of how cholinergic neuromodulation impacts on neural correlates of vision and attention. The speakers cover a wide range of techniques and approaches ranging from electrophysiological recording of neural activity to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and magnetoencephalography (MEG), which enable the investigation of neurochemical modulation. Alex Thiele will address the impact of cholinergic neurotransmission on neural activity in monkey visual cortex, and Gregor Rainer will focus on effects of basal forebrain deep brain stimulation on the primary visual cortex of the tree shrew. Elvire Vaucher will focus on the role of cholinergic stimulation for visual learning in rats. Markus Bauer will talk on cholinergic modulation of visual attention and neural oscillations assessed with MEG. Christiane Thiel will present fMRI data investigating cholinergic effects on visual attention in healthy humans.