Dopamine modulates visual threat processing in the superior colliculus via D2 receptors.

Innate defensive responses, unlearned behaviors improving individuals' chances of survival, have been found to involve the dopamine (DA) system. In the superior colliculus (SC), known for its role in defensive behaviors to visual threats, neurons expressing dopaminergic receptors of type 1 (Drd1+) and of type 2 (Drd2+) have been identified. We hypothesized that SC neurons expressing dopaminergic receptors may play a role in promoting innate defensive responses. Optogenetic activation of SC Drd2+ neurons, but not Drd1+ neurons, triggered defensive behaviors. Chemogenetic inhibition of SC Drd2+ neurons decreased looming-induced defensive behaviors, as well as pretreatment with the pharmacological Drd2+ agonist quinpirole, suggesting an essential role of Drd2 receptors in the regulation of innate defensive behavior. Input and output viral tracing revealed SC Drd2+ neurons mainly receive moderate inputs from the locus coeruleus (LC). Our results suggest a sophisticated regulatory role of DA and its receptor system in innate defensive behavior.

Mapping the neural circuitry of predator fear in the nonhuman primate.

In rodents, innate and learned fear of predators depends on the medial hypothalamic defensive system, a conserved brain network that lies downstream of the amygdala and promotes avoidance via projections to the periaqueductal gray. Whether this network is involved in primate fear remains unknown. To address this, we provoked flight responses to a predator (moving snake) in the marmoset monkey under laboratory conditions. We combined c-Fos immunolabeling and anterograde/retrograde tracing to map the functional connectivity of the ventromedial hypothalamus, a core node in the medial hypothalamic defensive system. Our findings demonstrate that the ventromedial hypothalamus is recruited by predator exposure in primates and that anatomical connectivity of the rodent and primate medial hypothalamic defensive system are highly conserved.

Glutamatergic and gabaergic neuronal populations in the dorsal Periacqueductual Gray have different functional roles in aversive conditioning.

The dorsal periacqueductal gray (dPAG) is a midbrain structure having an essential role in coordinating defensive behaviors in response to aversive stimulation. However, the question of whether dPAG neurons can respond to aversive conditioning and retrieval, properties involved in emergence of negative emotional state, is still under debate. Here we used calcium imaging by fiber photometry to record the activity of dPAGVGluT2+ and dPAGGAD2+ neuronal populations during unconditioned and conditioned aversive stimulation. Then, following an unconditioned stimulation we performed a retrieval experiment to quantify memory-like responses of dPAG neurons. This shown that whilst both dPAGVGluT2+ and dPAGGAD2+ neuronal populations respond to direct US stimulation, and to CS stimulation during conditioning, only the dPAGVGluT2+ population persisted in responding to the CS stimulation during retrieval. Finally to better understand these divergences in dPAGVGluT2+ and dPAGGAD2+ responses, we investigated their respective connectivity patterns by performing a cell specific monosynaptic retrograde rabies virus tracing experiment. This revealed that different patterns of fibers projects to dPAGVGluT2+ and dPAGGAD2+, which could explain part of their response specificities. This may indicate that glutamatergic subpopulation is a main contributor of aversive memories in dPAG.

A VTA GABAergic Neural Circuit Mediates Visually Evoked Innate Defensive Responses.

Innate defensive responses are essential for animal survival and are conserved across species. The ventral tegmental area (VTA) plays important roles in learned appetitive and aversive behaviors, but whether it plays a role in mediating or modulating innate defensive responses is currently unknown. We report that VTAGABA+ neurons respond to a looming stimulus. Inhibition of VTAGABA+ neurons reduced looming-evoked defensive flight behavior, and photoactivation of these neurons resulted in defense-like flight behavior. Using viral tracing and electrophysiological recordings, we show that VTAGABA+ neurons receive direct excitatory inputs from the superior colliculus (SC). Furthermore, we show that glutamatergic SC-VTA projections synapse onto VTAGABA+ neurons that project to the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) and that the CeA is involved in mediating the defensive behavior. Our findings demonstrate that aerial threat-related visual information is relayed to VTAGABA+ neurons mediating innate behavioral responses, suggesting a more general role of the VTA.

Characterization of glutamatergic VTA neural population responses to aversive and rewarding conditioning in freely-moving mice.

The Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA) is a midbrain structure known to integrate aversive and rewarding stimuli, but little is known about the role of VTA glutamatergic (VGluT2) neurons in these functions. Direct activation of VGluT2 soma evokes rewarding behaviors, while activation of their downstream projections evokes aversive behaviors. To facilitate our understanding of these conflicting properties, we recorded calcium signals from VTAVGluT2+ neurons using fiber photometry in VGluT2-cre mice to investigate how this population was recruited by aversive and rewarding stimulation, both during unconditioned and conditioned protocols. Our results revealed that, as a population, VTAVGluT2+ neurons responded similarly to unconditioned-aversive and unconditioned-rewarding stimulation. During aversive and rewarding conditioning, the CS-evoked responses gradually increased across trials whilst the US-evoked response remained stable. Retrieval 24 h after conditioning, during which mice received only CS presentation, resulted in VTAVGluT2+ neurons strongly responding to CS presentation and to the expected-US but only for aversive conditioning. To help understand these differences based on VTAVGluT2+ neuronal networks, the inputs and outputs of VTAVGluT2+ neurons were investigated using Cholera Toxin B (CTB) and rabies virus. Based on our results, we propose that the divergent VTAVGluT2+ neuronal responses to aversion and reward conditioning may be partly due to the existence of VTAVGluT2+ subpopulations that are characterized by their connectivity.

Activation of parvalbumin interneurons in anterior cingulate cortex impairs observational fear.

The ability to detect conspecific's distress is crucial for animal survival. In rodent models, observational fear (OF) occurs when one animal perceives another fear related negative emotions, which may model certain behaviors caused by witnessing traumatic experiences in humans. Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) has been showed to play a crucial role in OF. However, cellular and neural circuit basis relating to ACC governing OF is poorly understood. Here, we used Designer Receptor Exclusively Activated by a Designer Drug (DREADD) system to investigate the cell type specific circuit mechanism of ACC in OF. Firstly, inhibitory hM4D (Gi) designer receptor together with clozapine N-oxide (CNO) injection was applied to inactivate ACC neurons in the observer mice. We found that, chemogenetic inhibition of ACC resulted in a decreased freezing response in the observer mice. Next, combining PV-ires-Cre mice and Cre-dependent DREADD system, we selectively targeted the ACC parvalbumin (PV) interneurons with the excitatory hM3D (Gq) designer receptor. Activation of ACC PV interneurons following CNO injection reduced freezing response in the observer mice, while had no effect on freezing response in the demonstrator mice. Finally, monosynaptic rabies retrograde tracing revealed that ACC PV interneurons receive inputs from the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus (MD) and the ventromedial thalamic nucleus (VM), both known for their roles in OF. Taken together, these findings reveal that ACC activation is important for OF, during which PV interneurons in ACC play an important regulatory role. Abnormal function of ACC PV interneurons might contribute to the pathology of empathy- deficits related diseases, such as autism and schizophrenia.