Catecholamine modulation of frontal cortical ignition during wakefulness, sleep, and anesthesia

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ID: 319797
2026
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Abstract
Abstract Conscious awareness—diminished during non-rapid-eye-movement (NREM) sleep and general anesthesia—is prevalent during wakefulness, but the underlying mechanism remains poorly understood. Here we show that activity of catecholamine neurons, known to be higher during wakefulness than NREM sleep, enhances cortical ignition, a process closely associated with conscious awareness. Chemogenetic activation and inactivation of catecholamine neurons, particularly dopaminergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), respectively increased and decreased the amplitude of anterior cingulate area (ACA) excitation evoked by visual cortex (V1) stimulation. Ketamine and isoflurane, two commonly used general anesthetics, greatly reduced V1-to-ACA activity propagation. In addition to suppressing ongoing cortical activity, these general anesthetics significantly reduced the activity of VTA dopaminergic and basal forebrain (BF) cholinergic neurons, with dopaminergic activity dropping well below its level during NREM sleep. The strong inhibition of frontal cortical activity evoked by V1 stimulation, prominent during NREM sleep, was also absent under ketamine and isoflurane anesthesia. These results indicate that general anesthesia and NREM sleep suppress global ignition through overlapping but non-identical mechanisms.
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openalex_W7167495287 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Bing Li, J Z Zhao, D Yang
Journal national science review
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/nsr/nwag412
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwag412
Keywords Keywords not found

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