Department of Anesthesiology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA; Department of Anesthesiology, Women's Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310006, China; Department of Anesthesiology, Cancer Hospital of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310022, China.
Department of Anesthesiology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA.
Brain Res. 2022 Aug 15;1789:147946. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2022.147946. Epub 2022 May 18.
Whiskers are highly developed tactile organs in mice. Here, we showed that mice with whisker trimming had a decreased anxiety behavior and activation of dorsomedial hypothalamus compared to control mice. Inhibition or damage of dorsomedial hypothalamus reversed the decrease of anxiety level induced by whisker trimming. These results expand the role of whiskers in regulating mouse behaviors to anxiety and suggest a novel function of dorsomedial hypothalamus. These findings indicate importance of normal sensory functions in modulating animal behavior.
胡须是老鼠高度发达的触觉器官。在这里，我们发现与对照组小鼠相比，修剪胡须的小鼠表现出焦虑行为减少和背内侧下丘脑激活。背内侧下丘脑的抑制或损伤逆转了修剪胡须引起的焦虑水平降低。这些结果将胡须在调节小鼠行为（包括焦虑）中的作用扩展到了一个新的领域，并提示了背内侧下丘脑的一个新功能。这些发现表明正常的感觉功能在调节动物行为方面的重要性。
