Circuit and synaptic organization of forebrain-to-midbrain pathways that promote and suppress vocalization.

Content Provider	Europe PMC
Author	Michael, Valerie Goffinet, Jack Pearson, John Wang, Fan Tschida, Katherine Mooney, Richard
Editor	Carr, Catherine Emily Dulac, Catherine
Copyright Year	2020
Abstract	Animals vocalize only in certain behavioral contexts, but the circuits and synapses through which forebrain neurons trigger or suppress vocalization remain unknown. Here, we used transsynaptic tracing to identify two populations of inhibitory neurons that lie upstream of neurons in the periaqueductal gray (PAG) that gate the production of ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) in mice (i.e. PAG-USV neurons). Activating PAG-projecting neurons in the preoptic area of the hypothalamus (POAPAG neurons) elicited USV production in the absence of social cues. In contrast, activating PAG-projecting neurons in the central-medial boundary zone of the amygdala (AmgC/M-PAG neurons) transiently suppressed USV production without disrupting non-vocal social behavior. Optogenetics-assisted circuit mapping in brain slices revealed that POAPAG neurons directly inhibit PAG interneurons, which in turn inhibit PAG-USV neurons, whereas AmgC/M-PAG neurons directly inhibit PAG-USV neurons. These experiments identify two major forebrain inputs to the PAG that trigger and suppress vocalization, respectively, while also establishing the synaptic mechanisms through which these neurons exert opposing behavioral effects.
Journal	eLife
Volume Number	9
PubMed Central reference number	PMC7793624
PubMed reference number	33372655
e-ISSN	2050084X
DOI	10.7554/elife.63493
Language	English
Publisher	eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
Publisher Date	2020-12-29
Access Restriction	Open
Rights License	This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited. © 2020, Michael et al
Subject Keyword	vocalizations ultrasonic preoptic hypothalamus amygdala periaqueductal gray Mouse
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Immunology and Microbiology Neuroscience Medicine Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology