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Abstract

Rising global temperatures may be driving up rates of mental illness as well, a new study suggests. Last year was the third hottest on record, and 2016 was the hottest ever. And more people are struggling with mental health issues in the US now than any other time in the nation's history. Superior predatory skills led to the evolutionary triumph of jawed vertebrates. However, the mechanisms by which the vertebrate brain controls predation remain largely unknown. Here, we reveal a critical role for the central nucleus of the amygdala in predatory hunting. Both optogenetic and chemogenetic stimulation of central amygdala of mice elicited predatory-like attacks upon both insect and artificial prey. Coordinated control of cervical and mandibular musculatures, which is necessary for accurately positioning lethal bites on prey, was mediated by a central amygdala projection to the reticular formation in the brainstem.