Journal
ANNALS OF THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
Volume 1521, Issue 1, Pages 79-95Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/nyas.14954
Keywords
contextual fear; defensive behavior; innate fear; periaqueductal gray; rat
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The present study systematically analyzed the afferent and efferent projections of the CUN and investigated its role in fear responses. The CUN was found to be a caudal component of the periaqueductal gray and had strong links with the dorsolateral periaqueductal gray. It was also found to mediate innate antipredatory responses but not learned fear responses.
The cuneiform nucleus (CUN) is a midbrain structure located lateral to the caudal part of the periaqueductal gray. In the present investigation, we first performed a systematic analysis of the afferent and efferent projections of the CUN using FluoroGold and Phaseolus vulgaris leucoagglutinin as retrograde and anterograde neuronal tracers, respectively. Next, we examined the behavioral responses to optogenetic activation of the CUN and evaluated the impact of pharmacological inactivation of the CUN in both innate and contextual fear responses to a predatory threat (i.e., a live cat). The present hodologic evidence indicates that the CUN might be viewed as a caudal component of the periaqueductal gray. The CUN has strong bidirectional links with the dorsolateral periaqueductal gray (PAGdl). Our hodological findings revealed that the CUN and PAGdl share a similar source of inputs involved in integrating information related to life-threatening events and that the CUN provides particularly strong projections to brain sites influencing antipredatory defensive behaviors. Our functional studies revealed that the CUN mediates innate freezing and flight antipredatory responses but does not seem to influence the acquisition and expression of learned fear responses.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available