The study provides a comprehensive digital database of the total population of ChAT-positive neurons in the reported structures, with the x,y,z coordinates of each neuron at micrometer resolution.

The results of the present investigation provide topographic descriptions of cholinergic somata distribution and axonal conduits, and demonstrate spatial differences in cognitive control networks. Third, the number of cholinergic neurons varies as a function of the volume of a specific brain region but cell body volume is constant across regions. However, comparison with an inhomogeneous Poisson distribution showed that the nucleus basalis and caudate-putamen findings could be explained by density gradients in those structures. Second, a quarter of the caudate-putamen is composed of axonal bundles, yet the spatial distribution of cholinergic neurons remained clustered when axonal bundles were accounted for.

In contrast, in the nucleus basalis, the cholinergic neurons had a spatial distribution of greater regularity than a uniform random distribution. Specifically, in the septum, globus pallidus, nucleus accumbens, and the caudate-putamen, the cholinergic neurons were clustered compared with a uniform random distribution. First, cholinergic interneuronal distance is not uniform across brain regions. Point process theory and graph signal processing techniques identified three topological principles of organization. Therefore, the present investigation analyzed the three-dimensional spatial organization of 14,000 cholinergic neurons that expressed choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) in these subcortical nuclei of the mouse forebrain. Cholinergic networks in the forebrain primarily occur in subcortical nuclei, specifically the septum, nucleus basalis, globus pallidus, nucleus accumbens, and the caudate-putamen. Despite robust evidence of functional implications in the modulation of cognition, little is known about the three-dimensional internal organization of cholinergic networks in the forebrain. Neuronal networks are regulated by three-dimensional spatial and structural properties.

Globus simulation regions