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Role of the Basal Forebrain Cholinergic System in Cortical Activation and Arousal

  • Chapter
Activation to Acquisition

Abstract

A basic question about the physiology of the cerebral cortex concerns the activating afferents that keep the neocortex in the aroused or waking state. Imbedded in this question are several other questions: Why must the cerebral cortex be aroused in the first place in order to interact with the environment? Why is the brain not hard-wired exclusively for the information processing mode, as seen in computers? What is the biological significance of the dichotomy of the activated (open-loop) and non-activated (closed-loop) states of the cerebral hemispheres? And finally, what are the neurophysiological mechanisms involved in the switching between the diametrically opposite functional states? This last question, as we will discuss it in this chapter, is under intensive investigation and clarification, whereas little work or even speculation is appearing on the evolutionary advantage of the functional dichotomy of the brain (Buzsáki, 1989).

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Authors
  1. György Buzsáki
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  2. Fred H. Gage
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Russell T. Richardson

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Buzsáki, G., Gage, F.H. (1991). Role of the Basal Forebrain Cholinergic System in Cortical Activation and Arousal. In: Richardson, R.T. (eds) Activation to Acquisition. Birkhäuser, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-0556-9_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-0556-9_5

  • Publisher Name: Birkhäuser, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-0558-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-0556-9

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