Neural and Genetic Basis of Evasion, Approach and Predation

Park, S.; Ryoo, Jia; Kim, Daesoo

doi:10.14348/molcells.2022.2032

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Predation, especially of another living prey, involved physical and mental competitions between predator and prey that was a matter of live and death. Using food pellets or live crickets, much has been learned about the attacking and consuming phases of predation, including the circuit mechanisms of several nuclei such as superior colliculus (SC), zona incerta (ZI), periaqueductal gray (PAG), the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA), the lateral hypothalamus (LH), the mesencephalic locomotor region (MLR), the reticular formation, and spinal premotor neurons (Zhao et al 2023;Park et al 2022). However, the pursuit phase, which is also critical for successful predation, is relatively poorly understood.…”

Section: Investigation Of Predatory Pursuit In Laboratory Micementioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamic decision making in predatory pursuit of mice

Wang,

Zhang,

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Most animals must reserve their limited intelligence for the most important situations, such as predation and escape, in order to have a better chance of survival. As a highly sequentially programmed behavior driven by innate desire, one of the most challenging parts of predation is how the predator can pursue and capture an escaping prey that is also running for its own survival. This requires the predator to synthesize environmental and prey information to make dynamic decisions in real time to guide appropriate behavior. However, it is still largely unclear whether and how mice can cope with such challenge. Here, we developed a real-time interactive platform to study the pursuit behavior during predation in rodents. An artificial prey was magnetically controlled by a closed-loop system that attempts to escape an approaching predator (e.g., a hungry mouse) in real time. By recording the time costs, trajectories and other parameters of both predator and prey, we found that not only were the mice able to complete predation tasks of varying difficulty, but that they could also improve their predation efficiency over trials, mainly due to the improvements in the pursuit phase. Further investigation revealed that the increase in pursuit performance may not entirely achieved by physical improvement, but rather by optimization of velocity control as well as a change of navigation strategy. In conclusion, this study reveals that mice are capable of making dynamic decisions during predatory pursuit, and the transition from novice to veteran can be used to study the biological mechanisms of dynamic decision making in mice.

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Section: Investigation Of Predatory Pursuit In Laboratory Micementioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamic decision making in predatory pursuit of mice

Wang,

Zhang,

et al. 2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Typically, successful preying consists of a series of sequential actions, including searching, pursuing, attacking and consuming (Comoli et al 2005;Galvin et al 2021). The neural mechanisms of attack and consumption have been extensively studied in recent years in mice, a mammalian model commonly used in laboratories (Zhao et al 2023;Park et al 2022). However, much less is known about the pursuit process, which can be both mentally and physically challenging for the hunter when facing a eeing prey (Alexander et al 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(Moore and Biewener 2015;Holmgren et al 2021;Hayden et al 2011). Using food pellets or live crickets, much has been learned about the attacking and consuming phases of predation in mice, including the circuit mechanisms of several nuclei such as superior colliculus (SC), zona incerta (ZI), periaqueductal gray (PAG), the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA), the lateral hypothalamus (LH), the mesencephalic locomotor region (MLR), the reticular formation, and spinal premotor neurons(Zhao et al 2023;Park et al 2022). However, the pursuit phase, which is also critical for successful predation, is relatively poorly understood.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Accumulated experience of preying on escaping bait enhances pursuit performance in mice

Wang,

Zhang,

et al. 2024

Preprint

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As a highly sequentially programmed behavior driven by innate desire, one of the most challenging parts of preying is how the hunter can pursue and capture an escaping prey that is also running for its own survival. Although presumed, it remains uncertain how the experience of competing with escaping prey can enhance preying performance. Here, we developed an interactive platform to study the preying behavior in mice using an escaping bait. This robotic bait was magnetically controlled by a closed-loop system that continuously attempted to evade an approaching threat (e.g., a hungry mouse). By recording the time costs, trajectories and other parameters of both mouse and the escaping bait, we found that mice were not only able to perform preying tasks of varying difficulties, but also that they could improve their preying efficiency over trials, mainly due to the improvements in the pursuit phase. Further investigation revealed that the enhancement in pursuit performance primarily resulted from changes in pursuit strategy and the optimization of velocity control. In conclusion, this study reveals that experienced mice can optimize their pursuit strategies to improve their preying efficiency, and the transition from novice to veteran can be used to study the biological mechanisms of behavioral flexibility in mice.

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“…Also, the ventral periaqueductal gray (vPAG), which receives a strong input from the MPA 26 , 27 , is well known to be involved in modulating approaching (fight) or avoiding (flight) behaviors 28 , 29 and hunting behaviors 30 , 31 . Recent studies have revealed that MPA projections to the vPAG mediate novelty seeking, exploration, hunting behaviors, and approach to a variety of targets 32 – 34 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploration driven by a medial preoptic circuit facilitates fear extinction in mice

et al. 2023

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Repetitive exposure to fear-associated targets is a typical treatment for patients with panic or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The success of exposure therapy depends on the active exploration of a fear-eliciting target despite an innate drive to avoid it. Here, we found that a circuit running from CaMKIIα-positive neurons of the medial preoptic area to the ventral periaqueductal gray (MPA-vPAG) facilitates the exploration of a fear-conditioned zone and subsequent fear extinction in mice. Activation or inhibition of this circuit did not induce preference/avoidance of a specific zone. Repeated entries into the fear-conditioned zone, induced by the motivation to chase a head-mounted object due to MPA-vPAG circuit photostimulation, facilitated fear extinction. Our results show how the brain forms extinction memory against avoidance of a fearful target and suggest a circuit-based mechanism of exposure therapy.

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Neural and Genetic Basis of Evasion, Approach and Predation

Cited by 6 publications

References 27 publications

Dynamic decision making in predatory pursuit of mice

Dynamic decision making in predatory pursuit of mice

Accumulated experience of preying on escaping bait enhances pursuit performance in mice

Exploration driven by a medial preoptic circuit facilitates fear extinction in mice

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