Yan Rongzhen, Wei Dongyu, Varshneya Avni, Shan Lynn, Dai Bing, Asencio Hector J, Gollamudi Aishwarya, Lin Dayu
Neuroscience Institute, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY 10016, USA.
Neuroscience Institute, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY 10016, USA.
Cell. 2024 Nov 27;187(24):6785-6803.e18. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.09.030. Epub 2024 Oct 14.
Winning increases the readiness to attack and the probability of winning, a widespread phenomenon known as the "winner effect." Here, we reveal a transition from target-specific to generalized aggression enhancement over 10 days of winning in male mice. This behavioral change is supported by three causally linked plasticity events in the ventrolateral part of the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMHvl), a critical node for aggression. Over 10 days of winning, VMHvl cells experience monotonic potentiation of long-range excitatory inputs, transient local connectivity strengthening, and a delayed excitability increase. Optogenetically coactivating the posterior amygdala (PA) terminals and VMHvl cells potentiates the PA-VMHvl pathway and triggers the same cascade of plasticity events observed during repeated winning. Optogenetically blocking PA-VMHvl synaptic potentiation eliminates all winning-induced plasticity. These results reveal the complex Hebbian synaptic and excitability plasticity in the aggression circuit during winning, ultimately leading to increased "aggressiveness" in repeated winners.
胜利会增强攻击的意愿和获胜的概率，这是一种被称为“胜者效应”的普遍现象。在此，我们揭示了雄性小鼠在连续10天获胜过程中，从针对特定目标的攻击增强向普遍攻击增强的转变。这种行为变化得到了腹内侧下丘脑腹外侧部分（VMHvl）三个因果相关的可塑性事件的支持，VMHvl是攻击行为的关键节点。在连续10天的获胜过程中，VMHvl细胞经历了远程兴奋性输入的单调增强、短暂的局部连接增强以及延迟的兴奋性增加。光遗传学共激活杏仁核后部（PA）的终末和VMHvl细胞可增强PA-VMHvl通路，并触发在重复获胜过程中观察到的相同可塑性事件级联反应。光遗传学阻断PA-VMHvl突触增强可消除所有获胜诱导的可塑性。这些结果揭示了获胜过程中攻击回路中复杂的赫布突触和兴奋性可塑性，最终导致重复获胜者的“攻击性”增加。
