Differential activation and survival of basal forebrain neurons following infusions of excitatory amino acids: studies with the immediate early gene c-fos.

These experiments investigated, by studying patterns of c-fos expression, the distribution of neurons activated or destroyed by the infusion into the basal forebrain of various excitatory amino acids at toxic and subtoxic doses. The results of experiment 1 showed that N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA), quisqualic acid and alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid (AMPA) differentially increased the expression of c-fos in magnocellular cholinergic nucleus basalis, dorsal and ventral pallidal neurons. AMPA was the most, and NMDA the least, effective in inducing FOS in nucleus basalis magnocellularis (nbM) neurons, with quisqualic acid having an intermediate effect, whereas the reverse was true in terms of the induction of FOS in pallidal neurons. In experiment 2, it was demonstrated that, in animals with ibotenic acid-induced lesions of the basal forebrain that were targetted on the nbM, virtually no pallidal neurons could be visualized that expressed FOS following AMPA-induced excitation of the dorsal and ventral striatum. By contrast, in animals with AMPA-induced lesions of the nbM, excitation of the striatum was followed by the expression of FOS in many dorsal and ventral pallidal neurons. Thus, infusions of AMPA into the basal forebrain appears preferentially to activate or destroy, depending on the concentration infused, cholinergic nbM neurons, whereas ibotenic acid or NMDA preferentially destroys or activates neurons of the dorsal and ventral pallidum. These results provide novel and complementary information regarding the organization of the basal forebrain and allow a clearer understanding of the different behavioural consequences of NMDA agonist-induced and non-NMDA agonist-induced excito-toxic lesions of this area.