Coordination Of Escape Circuits Orchestrates Versatile Flight And ...

Skip to main contentUCLAUCLADepositManageSubmissionsMenu

• About eScholarship
• UC Open Access Policies
• Journals
• Academic Units

• eScholarship
• UCLA
• UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Download PDF

• Main
  • PDF

ShareEmailFacebook

Coordination of escape circuits orchestrates versatile flight and controls escape vigor from multimodal threats

2022

• Schuette, Peter Joseph
• Advisor(s): Adhikari, Avishek;
• Kao, Jonathan

...Main ContentMetricsAuthor & Article InfoAbstract

Naturalistic escape requires versatile context-specific flight with rapid evaluation of local geometry to identify and use efficient escape routes. It is unknown how spatial navigation and escape circuits are recruited to produce context-specific flight. Using mice, we show activity in cholecystokinin-expressing hypothalamic dorsal premammillary cells (PMd-cck) is sufficient and necessary for context-specific escape that adapts to each environment’s layout. Contrastingly, numerous other nuclei implicated in flight only induced stereotyped panic-related escape. We reasoned the PMd can induce context-specific escape because it projects to both escape and spatial navigation nuclei. Indeed, activity in PMd-cck projections to thalamic spatial navigation circuits are only necessary for context-specific escape induced by moderate threats, but not panic-related stereotyped escape caused by perceived asphyxiation. Conversely, the PMd projection to the escape-inducing dorsal periaqueductal gray projection is necessary for all escapes tested. Thus, PMd-cck controls versatile flight, engaging spatial navigation and escape circuits.

It is additionally unknown if a single circuit controls escape vigor from innate and conditioned threats. We further demonstrate that PMd-cck cells are activated during escape, but not other defensive behaviors. PMd-cck ensemble activity can also predict future escape. Furthermore, PMd inhibition decreases escape speed from both innate and conditioned threats. Inhibition of the PMd-cck projection to the dlPAG also decreased escape speed. Intriguingly, PMd- cck and dlPAG activity in mice showed higher mutual information during exposure to innate and conditioned threats. In parallel, human fMRI data show that a posterior hypothalamic-to-dlPAG pathway increased activity during exposure to aversive images, indicating that a similar pathway may possibly have a related role in humans. Our data identify the PMd-dlPAG circuit as a central node, controlling escape vigor elicited by both innate and conditioned threats.

Article

• Abstract
• Main Content

• Metrics
• Author & Article Info

• Scaling Out and Scaling Down Foundation Models for Emerging Domains

  • Xu, Derek Qiang
  • Advisor(s): Sun, Yizhou YS;
  • Wang, Wei WW

• MiniStream: a Distributed Behavioral Video Recording System for Open Neuroscience

  • Liu, Yang
  • Advisor(s): Aharoni, Daniel B;
  • Kao, Jonathan C

• Computational Imaging System for Volumetric and Hyperspectral Microscopy

  • Zhao, Ruixuan
  • Advisor(s): Emaminejad, Sam S.E.

• A Spatiotemporal Analysis of Location Affordability and Job Accessibility in Los Angeles County, California

  • Phan, Juliana Vi
  • Advisor(s): Handcock, Mark S

• Behind-the-Curtain Medicine: Acɛ̀ and Obŏ in Béninois Lifeworlds

  • Brown, DEGENHART
  • Advisor(s): Roberts, Allen F.

Top