Cholinergic influences on feature binding

Abstract

The binding problem refers to the fundamental challenge of the central nervous system to integrate sensory information registered by multiple brain regions to form a unified neural representation of a stimulus. Human behavioral, neuropsychological, and functional neuroimaging evidence suggests a fundamental role for attention in feature binding; however, its neurochemical basis is currently unknown. This study examined whether acetylcholine (ACh), a neuromodulator that has been implicated in attentional processes, plays a critical role in feature binding. Using a within-subjects pharmacological design and the cholinergic muscarinic antagonist scopolamine, the present experiments demonstrate, in a rat model, a critical role for the cortical muscarinic cholinergic system in feature binding. Specifically, ACh and the attentional resources that it supports are essential for the initial feature binding process but are not required to maintain neural representations of bound stimuli.