Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA; Neuroscience Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
Neuroscience Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
Neuron. 2020 May 20;106(4):637-648.e6. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2020.02.014. Epub 2020 Mar 11.
Although the ventromedial hypothalamus ventrolateral area (VMHvl) is now well established as a critical locus for the generation of conspecific aggression, its role is complex, with neurons responding during multiple phases of social interactions with both males and females. It has been previously unclear how the brain uses this complex multidimensional signal and coordinates a discrete action: the attack. Here, we find a hypothalamic-midbrain circuit that represents hierarchically organized social signals during aggression. Optogenetic-assisted circuit mapping reveals a preferential projection from VMHvl to lPAG cells, and inactivation of downstream lPAG populations results in aggression-specific deficits. lPAG neurons are selective for attack action and exhibit short-latency, time-locked spiking relative to the activity of jaw muscles during biting. Last, we find that this projection conveys male-biased signals from the VMHvl to downstream lPAG neurons that are sensitive to features of ongoing activity, suggesting that action selectivity is generated by a combination of pre- and postsynaptic mechanisms.
虽然腹内侧下丘脑腹外侧区（VMHvl）现在被认为是产生同种攻击的关键部位，但它的作用是复杂的，其神经元在与雄性和雌性的多种社交互动阶段都会做出反应。此前尚不清楚大脑如何利用这种复杂的多维信号并协调一个离散的动作：攻击。在这里，我们发现了一个下丘脑-中脑回路，它在攻击过程中代表了层次化组织的社交信号。光遗传辅助的回路映射显示了 VMHvl 到 lPAG 细胞的优先投射，而下游 lPAG 群体的失活导致攻击特异性缺陷。lPAG 神经元对攻击动作具有选择性，并表现出相对于咀嚼肌活动的短潜伏期、时间锁定的尖峰。最后，我们发现，这条投射从 VMHvl 向下游 lPAG 神经元传递了雄性偏向的信号，这些神经元对正在进行的活动的特征敏感，这表明动作选择性是由前突触和后突触机制的组合产生的。
