Projections from the Prefrontal Cortex to Zona Incerta Mediate Fear Generalization

Tong, Kun; Bu, Guang-Kai; Jing, Si-Qi; Wu, Tong; Song, Yutong; You, Yue; Liu, Le; Chen, Yuan-Hao; Hao, Jing‐Ru; Sun, Nan; Gao, Can

doi:10.1007/s12264-023-01046-5

Cited by 6 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 15 publications

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“…4A ). We observed the vast majority of RV-labeled cells located in fear-related brain regions such as the zona incerta (ZI) [ 34 , 35 ], the lateral hypothalamus (LH) [ 36 , 37 ], the superior colliculus (SC) [ 38–40 ], the lateral parabrachial nucleus (LPB) [ 41 , 42 ] and the lPAG [ 43 ] (Fig. 4B and C ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Control of defensive behavior by the nucleus of Darkschewitsch GABAergic neurons

Zhao,

Liu,

Shao

et al. 2024

National Science Review

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The nucleus of Darkschewitsch (ND), mainly composed of GABAergic neurons, is widely recognized as a component of the eye-movement controlling system. However, the functional contribution of ND GABAergic neurons (NDGABA) in animal behavior is largely unknown. Here, we show that NDGABA neurons were selectively activated by different types of fear stimuli, such as predator odor and foot-shock. Optogenetic and chemogenetic manipulations revealed that NDGABA neurons mediate freezing behavior. Moreover, using circuit-based optogenetic and neuroanatomical tracing methods, we identified an excitatory pathway from the lateral periaqueductal grey (lPAG) to the ND that induces freezing by exciting ND inhibitory outputs to the motor-related gigantocellular reticular nucleus, ventral part (GiV). Together, these findings indicate the NDGABA population as a novel hub for controlling defensive response by relaying fearful information from lPAG to GiV, a mechanism critical for understanding how the freezing behavior is encoded in the mammalian brain.

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