Watanabe Kiichi, Chiu Hui, Pfeiffer Barret D, Wong Allan M, Hoopfer Eric D, Rubin Gerald M, Anderson David J
Division of Biology and Biological Engineering 156-29 and the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute for Neuroscience, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Janelia Research Campus, HHMI, Ashburn VA, USA.
Neuron. 2017 Aug 30;95(5):1112-1128.e7. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2017.08.017.
Diffuse neuromodulatory systems such as norepinephrine (NE) control brain-wide states such as arousal, but whether they control complex social behaviors more specifically is not clear. Octopamine (OA), the insect homolog of NE, is known to promote both arousal and aggression. We have performed a systematic, unbiased screen to identify OA receptor-expressing neurons (OARNs) that control aggression in Drosophila. Our results uncover a tiny population of male-specific aSP2 neurons that mediate a specific influence of OA on aggression, independent of any effect on arousal. Unexpectedly, these neurons receive convergent input from OA neurons and P1 neurons, a population of FruM neurons that promotes male courtship behavior. Behavioral epistasis experiments suggest that aSP2 neurons may constitute an integration node at which OAergic neuromodulation can bias the output of P1 neurons to favor aggression over inter-male courtship. These results have potential implications for thinking about the role of related neuromodulatory systems in mammals.
去甲肾上腺素（NE）等弥散性神经调节系统控制着诸如觉醒等全脑状态，但它们是否更具体地控制复杂的社会行为尚不清楚。章鱼胺（OA）是NE的昆虫同源物，已知它既能促进觉醒，也能促进攻击行为。我们进行了一项系统的、无偏差的筛选，以鉴定在果蝇中控制攻击行为的表达OA受体的神经元（OARN）。我们的结果揭示了一小群雄性特异性aSP2神经元，它们介导了OA对攻击行为的特定影响，而与对觉醒的任何影响无关。出乎意料的是，这些神经元从OA神经元和P1神经元接收汇聚输入，P1神经元是一群促进雄性求偶行为的FruM神经元。行为上位性实验表明，aSP2神经元可能构成一个整合节点，在这个节点上，OA能神经调节可以使P1神经元的输出偏向于有利于攻击行为而非雄性间求偶行为。这些结果对于思考相关神经调节系统在哺乳动物中的作用具有潜在意义。
