Anesthesia and analgesia
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Jun 2022
Inactivation of Prefrontal Cortex Attenuates Behavioral Arousal Induced by Stimulation of Basal Forebrain During Sevoflurane Anesthesia.
Cholinergic stimulation of prefrontal cortex (PFC) can reverse anesthesia. Conversely, inactivation of PFC can delay emergence from anesthesia. PFC receives cholinergic projections from basal forebrain, which contains wake-promoting neurons. However, the role of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons in arousal from the anesthetized state requires refinement, and it is currently unknown whether the arousal-promoting effect of basal forebrain is mediated through PFC. To address these gaps in knowledge, we implemented a novel approach to the use of chemogenetic stimulation and tested the role of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons in behavioral arousal during sevoflurane anesthesia. Next, we investigated the effect of tetrodotoxin-mediated inactivation of PFC on behavioral arousal produced by electrical stimulation of basal forebrain during sevoflurane anesthesia. ⋯ This study validates the role of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons in behavioral arousal and demonstrates that the arousal-promoting effects of basal forebrain are mediated in part through PFC.