Liu Ying, Rao Bo, Li Shuang, Zheng Ning, Wang Jie, Bi Linlin, Xu Haibo
Department of Radiology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance in Biological Systems, Wuhan Center for Magnetic Resonance, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China.
Front Pharmacol. 2022 Jan 28;13:814623. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2022.814623. eCollection 2022.
Insomnia and anxiety are two common clinical diseases that threaten people's physical and mental health. Insomnia and anxiety may share some similar underlying neural circuit mechanisms in the brain. In this study, we combine techniques including chemo-fMRI, optogenetics, and chemogenetics to reveal that the glutamatergic neurons of the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus (PVN) regulate both anxiety and arousal through two different downstream neural circuits. Optogenetic activation of the PVN-cingulate cortex (Cg) neural circuit triggers anxiety-like behaviors in mice without affecting the wakefulness, while optogenetic activation of the PVN-paraventricular thalamic nucleus (PVT) neural circuit promotes wakefulness in mice without affecting anxiety-like behaviors. Our research reveals that PVN is a key brain area for controlling anxiety and arousal behaviors. We also provide a neurological explanation for anxiety disorder and insomnia which may offer guidance for treatments including drugs or transcranial magnetic stimulation for the patients.
失眠和焦虑是两种威胁人们身心健康的常见临床疾病。失眠和焦虑在大脑中可能共享一些相似的潜在神经回路机制。在本研究中,我们结合化学功能磁共振成像、光遗传学和化学遗传学等技术,揭示下丘脑室旁核(PVN)的谷氨酸能神经元通过两条不同的下游神经回路调节焦虑和觉醒。光遗传学激活PVN-扣带回皮质(Cg)神经回路会引发小鼠的焦虑样行为,而不影响清醒状态;而光遗传学激活PVN-室旁丘脑核(PVT)神经回路则会促进小鼠的清醒,而不影响焦虑样行为。我们的研究表明PVN是控制焦虑和觉醒行为的关键脑区。我们还为焦虑症和失眠提供了神经学解释,这可能为包括药物治疗或经颅磁刺激在内的针对患者的治疗提供指导。