A subcortical excitatory circuit for sensory-triggered predatory hunting in mice
A subcortical excitatory circuit for sensory-triggered predatory hunting in mice
复制标题
小鼠感官触发捕食性狩猎的皮层下兴奋回路
DOI：
10.1038/s41593-019-0405-4
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发表时间：
2019-06-01
影响因子：
25
通讯作者：
Cao, Peng
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Shang, Congping;Liu, Aixue;Cao, Peng
捕食性狩猎在动物生存中起着重要作用。我们对将感官线索转化为神经信号以驱动这种行为的神经回路知之甚少。在这里，我们确定了一个兴奋性的皮层下神经回路从上级丘的触发捕食狩猎的delicerta。形成这条通路的上级丘神经元整合了与猎物运动相关的视觉和触须体感线索。在狩猎过程中，这些神经元发出的神经信号在时间上与捕食性攻击相关，但与猎物捕获后的进食无关。这种通路的突触失活选择性地阻止了对猎物的狩猎，而不损害其他感官触发的行为。这些数据揭示了一个皮层下神经回路，专门从事将感官线索转化为神经信号，以激发捕食性狩猎。
Predatory hunting plays a fundamental role in animal survival. Little is known about the neural circuits that convert sensory cues into neural signals to drive this behavior. Here we identified an excitatory subcortical neural circuit from the superior colliculus to the zona incerta that triggers predatory hunting. The superior colliculus neurons that form this pathway integrate motion-related visual and vibrissal somatosensory cues of prey. During hunting, these neurons send out neural signals that are temporally correlated with predatory attacks, but not with feeding after prey capture. Synaptic inactivation of this pathway selectively blocks hunting for prey without impairing other sensory-triggered behaviors. These data reveal a subcortical neural circuit that is specifically engaged in translating sensory cues into neural signals to provoke predatory hunting.