Link to bioRxiv paper: http://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2020.06.25.171199v1?rss=1 Authors: Pfeffer, T., Ponce-Alvarez, A., Meindertsma, T., Gahnstrom, C., van den Brink, R. L., Nolte, G., Tsetsos, K., Engel, A. K., Deco, G., Donner, T. H. Abstract: The catecholamine and acetylcholine systems control global brain states. Influential theoretical accounts postulate distinct computational roles of these systems. But previous empirical work observed only subtle, quantitative differences between their effects on single-neuron responses in the cortex. Here, we report a double dissociation between catecholamine and acetylcholine effects on large-scale cortical dynamics in humans. A pharmacological boost of catecholamine levels increased the cortex-wide coupling between regional fluctuations of population activity during a visual task. In contrast, a pharmacological acetylcholine boost decreased coupling during rest. Circuit modeling explained these results by distinct changes in local cortical circuit properties (specifically, excitation/inhibition balance) and predicted that catecholamines would promote more exploratory choice behavior. Indeed, we observed increased exploration under catecholamine boost in two behavioral tasks. We conclude that distinct local circuit mechanisms cause dissociated context-dependent catecholamine and acetylcholine effects on large-scale cortical dynamics. Copy rights belong to original authors. Visit the link for more info