Noncholinergic neurons in the basal forebrain: often neglected but motivationally salient.

Although noncholinergic neurons in the basal forebrain are known to contribute to cognition, their response properties in behaving animals is unclear. In this issue of Neuron, Lin and Nicolelis demonstrate that these neurons represent the motivational salience of sensory stimuli and may modulate cortical processing to direct top-down attention.