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Zhang H, Zhu Z, Ma WX, Kong LX, Yuan PC, Bu LF, Han J, Huang ZL, Wang YQ. The contribution of periaqueductal gray in the regulation of physiological and pathological behaviors. Front Neurosci 2024; 18:1380171. [PMID: 38650618 PMCID: PMC11034386 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1380171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2024] [Accepted: 03/18/2024] [Indexed: 04/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Periaqueductal gray (PAG), an integration center for neuronal signals, is located in the midbrain and regulates multiple physiological and pathological behaviors, including pain, defensive and aggressive behaviors, anxiety and depression, cardiovascular response, respiration, and sleep-wake behaviors. Due to the different neuroanatomical connections and functional characteristics of the four functional columns of PAG, different subregions of PAG synergistically regulate various instinctual behaviors. In the current review, we summarized the role and possible neurobiological mechanism of different subregions of PAG in the regulation of pain, defensive and aggressive behaviors, anxiety, and depression from the perspective of the up-down neuronal circuits of PAG. Furthermore, we proposed the potential clinical applications of PAG. Knowledge of these aspects will give us a better understanding of the key role of PAG in physiological and pathological behaviors and provide directions for future clinical treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hui Zhang
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Institutes of Brain Science and Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Joint International Research Laboratory of Sleep, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- Anhui Provincial Engineering Laboratory for Screening and Re-evaluation of Active Compounds of Herbal Medicines in Southern Anhui, Anhui Provincial Engineering Research Center for Polysaccharide Drugs, Wannan Medical College, Wuhu, China
| | - Zhe Zhu
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Institutes of Brain Science and Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Joint International Research Laboratory of Sleep, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Wei-Xiang Ma
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Institutes of Brain Science and Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Joint International Research Laboratory of Sleep, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Ling-Xi Kong
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Institutes of Brain Science and Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Joint International Research Laboratory of Sleep, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Ping-Chuan Yuan
- Anhui Provincial Engineering Laboratory for Screening and Re-evaluation of Active Compounds of Herbal Medicines in Southern Anhui, Anhui Provincial Engineering Research Center for Polysaccharide Drugs, Wannan Medical College, Wuhu, China
| | - Li-Fang Bu
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Institutes of Brain Science and Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Joint International Research Laboratory of Sleep, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jun Han
- Anhui Provincial Engineering Laboratory for Screening and Re-evaluation of Active Compounds of Herbal Medicines in Southern Anhui, Anhui Provincial Engineering Research Center for Polysaccharide Drugs, Wannan Medical College, Wuhu, China
| | - Zhi-Li Huang
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Institutes of Brain Science and Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Joint International Research Laboratory of Sleep, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- Department of Anesthesiology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yi-Qun Wang
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Institutes of Brain Science and Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Joint International Research Laboratory of Sleep, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
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Ziobro P, Woo Y, He Z, Tschida K. Midbrain neurons important for the production of mouse ultrasonic vocalizations are not required for distress calls. Curr Biol 2024; 34:1107-1113.e3. [PMID: 38301649 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.01.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2023] [Revised: 11/17/2023] [Accepted: 01/08/2024] [Indexed: 02/03/2024]
Abstract
A fundamental feature of vocal communication is that animals produce vocalizations with different acoustic features in different behavioral contexts (contact calls, territorial calls, courtship calls, etc.). The midbrain periaqueductal gray (PAG) is a key region that regulates vocal production, and artificial activation of the PAG can elicit the production of multiple species-typical vocalization types.1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 How PAG circuits are organized to regulate the production of different vocalization types remains unknown. On the one hand, studies have found that partial PAG lesions abolish the production of some vocalization types while leaving others intact,3,8,10,11 suggesting that different populations of PAG neurons might control the production of different vocalization types. On the other hand, electrophysiological recordings have revealed individual PAG neurons that increase their activity during the production of multiple vocalization types,12,13,14 suggesting that some PAG neurons may regulate the production of more than one vocalization type. To test whether a single population of midbrain neurons regulates the production of different vocalization types, we applied intersectional methods to selectively ablate a population of midbrain neurons important for the production of ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) in mice. We find that, although ablation of these PAG-USV neurons blocks USV production in both males and females, these neurons are not required for the production of distress calls. Our findings suggest that distinct populations of midbrain neurons control the production of different vocalization types.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patryk Ziobro
- Department of Psychology, Cornell University, 109 Tower Road, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Yena Woo
- Department of Psychology, Cornell University, 109 Tower Road, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Zichen He
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, 417 Chapel Drive, Durham, NC 27710, USA
| | - Katherine Tschida
- Department of Psychology, Cornell University, 109 Tower Road, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
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Park J, Choi S, Takatoh J, Zhao S, Harrahill A, Han BX, Wang F. Brainstem control of vocalization and its coordination with respiration. Science 2024; 383:eadi8081. [PMID: 38452069 PMCID: PMC11223444 DOI: 10.1126/science.adi8081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2023] [Accepted: 01/18/2024] [Indexed: 03/09/2024]
Abstract
Phonation critically depends on precise controls of laryngeal muscles in coordination with ongoing respiration. However, the neural mechanisms governing these processes remain unclear. We identified excitatory vocalization-specific laryngeal premotor neurons located in the retroambiguus nucleus (RAmVOC) in adult mice as being both necessary and sufficient for driving vocal cord closure and eliciting mouse ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs). The duration of RAmVOC activation can determine the lengths of both USV syllables and concurrent expiration periods, with the impact of RAmVOC activation depending on respiration phases. RAmVOC neurons receive inhibition from the preBötzinger complex, and inspiration needs override RAmVOC-mediated vocal cord closure. Ablating inhibitory synapses in RAmVOC neurons compromised this inspiration gating of laryngeal adduction, resulting in discoordination of vocalization with respiration. Our study reveals the circuits for vocal production and vocal-respiratory coordination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jaehong Park
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
| | - Seonmi Choi
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Jun Takatoh
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Shengli Zhao
- Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, 27710, USA
| | - Andrew Harrahill
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Bao-Xia Han
- Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, 27710, USA
| | - Fan Wang
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
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Hood KE, Hurley LM. Listening to your partner: serotonin increases male responsiveness to female vocal signals in mice. Front Hum Neurosci 2024; 17:1304653. [PMID: 38328678 PMCID: PMC10847236 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2023.1304653] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2023] [Accepted: 12/28/2023] [Indexed: 02/09/2024] Open
Abstract
The context surrounding vocal communication can have a strong influence on how vocal signals are perceived. The serotonergic system is well-positioned for modulating the perception of communication signals according to context, because serotonergic neurons are responsive to social context, influence social behavior, and innervate auditory regions. Animals like lab mice can be excellent models for exploring how serotonin affects the primary neural systems involved in vocal perception, including within central auditory regions like the inferior colliculus (IC). Within the IC, serotonergic activity reflects not only the presence of a conspecific, but also the valence of a given social interaction. To assess whether serotonin can influence the perception of vocal signals in male mice, we manipulated serotonin systemically with an injection of its precursor 5-HTP, and locally in the IC with an infusion of fenfluramine, a serotonin reuptake blocker. Mice then participated in a behavioral assay in which males suppress their ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) in response to the playback of female broadband vocalizations (BBVs), used in defensive aggression by females when interacting with males. Both 5-HTP and fenfluramine increased the suppression of USVs during BBV playback relative to controls. 5-HTP additionally decreased the baseline production of a specific type of USV and male investigation, but neither drug treatment strongly affected male digging or grooming. These findings show that serotonin modifies behavioral responses to vocal signals in mice, in part by acting in auditory brain regions, and suggest that mouse vocal behavior can serve as a useful model for exploring the mechanisms of context in human communication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kayleigh E. Hood
- Hurley Lab, Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, United States
- Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, United States
| | - Laura M. Hurley
- Hurley Lab, Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, United States
- Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, United States
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Packheiser J, Soyman E, Paradiso E, Michon F, Ramaaker E, Sahin N, Muralidharan S, Wöhr M, Gazzola V, Keysers C. Audible pain squeaks can mediate emotional contagion across pre-exposed rats with a potential effect of auto-conditioning. Commun Biol 2023; 6:1085. [PMID: 37880354 PMCID: PMC10600148 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-05474-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2022] [Accepted: 10/17/2023] [Indexed: 10/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Footshock self-experience enhances rodents' reactions to the distress of others. Here, we tested one potential mechanism supporting this phenomenon, namely that animals auto-condition to their own pain squeaks during shock pre-exposure. In Experiment 1, shock pre-exposure increased freezing and 22 kHz distress vocalizations while animals listened to the audible pain-squeaks of others. In Experiment 2 and 3, to test the auto-conditioning theory, we weakened the noxious pre-exposure stimulus not to trigger pain squeaks, and compared pre-exposure protocols in which we paired it with squeak playback against unpaired control conditions. Although all animals later showed fear responses to squeak playbacks, these were weaker than following typical pre-exposure (Experiment 1) and not stronger following paired than unpaired pre-exposure. Experiment 1 thus demonstrates the relevance of audible pain squeaks in the transmission of distress but Experiment 2 and 3 highlight the difficulty to test auto-conditioning: stimuli weak enough to decouple pain experience from hearing self-emitted squeaks are too weak to trigger the experience-dependent increase in fear transmission that we aimed to study. Although our results do not contradict the auto-conditioning hypothesis, they fail to disentangle it from sensitization effects. Future studies could temporarily deafen animals during pre-exposure to further test this hypothesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julian Packheiser
- Social Brain Lab, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Efe Soyman
- Social Brain Lab, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Lab, Koc University, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Enrica Paradiso
- Social Brain Lab, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Frédéric Michon
- Social Brain Lab, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Eline Ramaaker
- Social Brain Lab, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Neslihan Sahin
- Social Brain Lab, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | | | - Markus Wöhr
- Research Unit Brain and Cognition, Laboratory of Biological Psychology, Social and Affective Neuroscience Research Group, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Behavioral Neuroscience, Experimental and Biological Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Valeria Gazzola
- Social Brain Lab, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Christian Keysers
- Social Brain Lab, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
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Schlingloff D, Hangya B, Pinto L. A cholinergic auditory pathway. Nat Neurosci 2023; 26:726-728. [PMID: 37029204 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-023-01300-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/09/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Dániel Schlingloff
- Lendület Laboratory of Systems Neuroscience, Institute of Experimental Medicine, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Balázs Hangya
- Lendület Laboratory of Systems Neuroscience, Institute of Experimental Medicine, Budapest, Hungary.
| | - Lucas Pinto
- Department of Neuroscience, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.
- Department of Neurobiology, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
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Sounding the Alarm: Sex Differences in Rat Ultrasonic Vocalizations during Pavlovian Fear Conditioning and Extinction. eNeuro 2022; 9:ENEURO.0382-22.2022. [PMID: 36443006 PMCID: PMC9797209 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0382-22.2022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2022] [Revised: 11/08/2022] [Accepted: 11/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Pavlovian fear conditioning is a prevalent tool in the study of aversive learning, which is a key component of stress-related psychiatric disorders. Adult rats can exhibit various threat-related behaviors, including freezing, motor responses, and ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs). While these responses can all signal aversion, we know little about how they relate to one another. Here we characterize USVs emitted by male and female rats during cued fear acquisition and extinction, and assess the relationship between different threat-related behaviors. We found that males consistently emitted >22 kHz calls (referred to here as "alarm calls") than females, and that alarm call frequency in males, but not females, related to the intensity of the shock stimulus. Interestingly, 25% of males and 45% of females did not emit any alarm calls at all. Males that did make alarm calls had significantly higher levels of freezing than males who did not, while no differences in freezing were observed between female Alarm callers and Non-alarm callers. Alarm call emission was also affected by the predictability of the shock; when unpaired from a tone cue, both males and females started emitting alarm calls significantly later. During extinction learning and retrieval sessions, males were again more likely than females to emit alarm calls, which followed an extinction-like reduction in frequency. Collectively these data suggest sex dependence in how behavioral readouts relate to innate and conditioned threat responses. Importantly, we suggest that the same behaviors can signal sex-dependent features of aversion.
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