This Week in The Journal

Acetylcholine signaling in the septohippocampal pathway supports behaviors and cognitive functions such as memory.But memory acquisition involves neurotransmission at a variety of timescales.What are the dynamics of acetylcholine neurotransmission?In this issue, Farokhi Moghadam et al. used fiber photometry in mice to measure acetylcholine signaling at subsecond timescales as the mice performed a memory task.The authors discovered that acetylcholine signaling in the septo-hippocampal pathway occurred at a range of timescales.Fast signaling correlated with transient visits to new object locations, body movements, running speed, and transitioning between behavioral states.Slower timescales of signaling were associated with changes in environments.According to the authors, this work advances understanding of how acetylcholine supports acquisition and retrieval of memories across multiple timescales during navigation.