Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Philippstr. 13, Haus 6, 10115 Berlin, Germany; Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Einstein Center for Neurosciences, Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Philippstr. 13, Haus 6, 10115 Berlin, Germany.
Neuron. 2023 Oct 4;111(19):3041-3052.e7. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2023.06.018. Epub 2023 Jul 28.
The persistence of play after decortication points to a subcortical mechanism of play control. We found that global blockade of the rat periaqueductal gray with either muscimol or lidocaine interfered with ticklishness and play. We recorded vocalizations and neural activity from the periaqueductal gray of young, playful rats during interspecific touch, play, and tickling. Rats vocalized weakly to touch and more strongly to play and tickling. Periaqueductal gray units showed diverse but strong modulation to tickling and play. Hierarchical clustering based on neuronal responses to play and tickling revealed functional clusters mapping to different periaqueductal gray columns. Specifically, we observed play-neutral/tickling-inhibited and tickling/play-neutral units in dorsolateral and dorsomedial periaqueductal gray columns. In contrast, strongly play/tickling-excited units mapped to the lateral columns and were suppressed by anxiogenic conditions. Optogenetic inactivation of lateral periaqueductal columns disrupted ticklishness and play. We conclude that the lateral periaqueductal gray columns are decisive for play and laughter.
去皮质后玩耍的持续存在表明存在一种控制玩耍的皮质下机制。我们发现，用 muscimol 或利多卡因对大鼠的导水管周围灰质进行全局阻断会干扰瘙痒和玩耍。我们记录了年轻、爱玩的大鼠在种间触摸、玩耍和瘙痒时的导水管周围灰质的发声和神经活动。大鼠对触摸的发声较弱，对玩耍和瘙痒的发声较强。导水管周围灰质单元对瘙痒和玩耍表现出多样化但强烈的调制。基于对玩耍和瘙痒反应的神经元反应进行的层次聚类揭示了映射到不同导水管周围灰质柱的功能聚类。具体来说，我们在导水管周围灰质的背外侧和背内侧柱中观察到了玩耍中立/瘙痒抑制和瘙痒/玩耍中立单元。相比之下，强烈的玩耍/瘙痒兴奋单元映射到外侧柱，并被焦虑诱导条件抑制。光遗传学失活外侧导水管周围灰质柱会破坏瘙痒和玩耍。我们的结论是，外侧导水管周围灰质柱对玩耍和笑声是决定性的。
