Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Brenton T. Laing, Megan S. Anderson, Jordi Bonaventura, Aishwarya Jayan, Sarah Sarsfield, Anjali Gajendiran, Michael Michaelides, Yeka Aponte
Summary: The study identified a cluster of glutamatergic parvalbumin-expressing neurons in the anterior hypothalamic area (AHA) that play a critical role in regulating defensive behaviors, including escape responses. Activation of these AHA(PV) neurons increased during exposure to a predator and triggered aversive responses. Neurotransmission between AHA(PV) neurons and the dorsal premammillary nucleus (PMD) was found to be involved in escape responses. The ablation of AHA(PV) neurons impaired escape responses but had no effect on anxiety-like behavior. Whole-brain metabolic mapping revealed activation of downstream areas such as the amygdala and substantia nigra. This study expands our understanding of the neuronal circuits underlying fight-or-flight responses and has important implications for studying neuropsychiatric disorders like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Joshua Owens-French, Shi-Bin Li, Marie Francois, R. Leigh Townsend, Mischael Daniel, Heather Soulier, Amy Turner, Luis de Lecea, Heike Munzberg, Christopher Morrison, Emily Qualls-Creekmore
Summary: The neurons in the lateral hypothalamus, specifically the galanin neurons, have been found to modulate anxiety-related behaviors without affecting stress-induced HPA activation or fear behaviors. These neurons respond to and influence anxiety in various behavioral tests, suggesting a potential pharmacological target for anxiety disorders.
BEHAVIOURAL BRAIN RESEARCH
(2022)
Editorial Material
Neurosciences
Zhihui Liu, Peng Cao
Summary: This study reports a new subpopulation of neurons, Cckar-expressing cells, located in the ventrolateral part of the ventromedial hypothalamus, and uncovers their roles in regulating female sexual behavior over reproductive cycles.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Polina A. Anfimova, Lydia G. Pankrasheva, Konstantin Yu Moiseev, Elizaveta S. Shirina, Valentina V. Porseva, Petr M. Masliukov
Summary: The hypothalamus plays a crucial role in regulating homeostasis, biological rhythms, adaptation, and aging. This study found the presence of Lin28-immunoreactive neurons in the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus and their absence in other studied nuclei. The percentage of Lin28-positive neurons increases with age, peaks at 6 months and 1 year, and then declines. These neurons also colocalize components of insulin signaling, indicating their involvement in metabolic regulation. The findings suggest that Lin28 expression in the hypothalamus changes with development and signaling components.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Wen Han Tong, Samira Abdulai-Saiku, Ajai Vyas
Summary: Arginine vasopressin (AVP) exhibits remarkable divergence in expression and role between hypothalamic and extra-hypothalamic neurons, which can regulate each other through polysynaptic pathways. In the medial amygdala, AVP expression is sexually dimorphic and responsive to testosterone, facilitating stress responsiveness by influencing the recruitment of hypothalamic AVP neurons.
Article
Neurosciences
Zhiyong Xie, Huating Gu, Meizhu Huang, Xinyu Cheng, Congping Shang, Ting Tao, Dapeng Li, Yuan Xie, Jidong Zhao, Wei Lu, Zhibin Zhang, Cheng Zhan, Zongxiang Tang, Fan Zhang, Peng Cao
Summary: This study reveals that noxious mechanical force is a key stimulus for triggering defensive attack in mice. vGAT(+) neurons in the anterior hypothalamic nucleus encode the intensity of mechanical force and regulate defensive attack. These findings provide insights into the neural mechanisms underlying innate defensive behaviors.
NATURE NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Anna Fosch, Sebastian Zagmutt, Nuria Casals, Rosalia Rodriguez-Rodriguez
Summary: SF1 neurons in the ventromedial hypothalamus play a crucial role in sensing glucose levels and mediating insulin and leptin signaling, as well as in energy expenditure and glucose homeostasis, particularly in the early stages of obesity. While studies have provided insight into the central role of these neurons in whole-body energy homeostasis, they have also raised new questions regarding the existence of neuronal sub-populations and the complexity of neurocircuitry.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Biology
Jee Yoon Bang, Julia Kathryn Sunstrum, Danielle Garand, Gustavo Morrone Parfitt, Melanie Woodin, Wataru Inoue, Junchul Kim
Summary: This study reveals a new mechanism for experience-dependent, top-down control of innate defensive behaviors in animals, showing that the anterior hypothalamic nucleus is the key brain region involved, with the hippocampus transmitting information through this pathway to control memory and escape behaviors in prey.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Amy K. Sutton, Paulette B. Goforth, Ian E. Gonzalez, James Dell'Orco, Hongjuan Pei, Martin G. Myers, David P. Olson
Summary: The study reveals that VMH neurons expressing melanocortin 3 receptor (Mc3R) can sense glucose changes and promote glucose utilization by regulating blood glucose levels. Activation of these neurons can attenuate glucose fluctuations, while silencing them enhances blood glucose excursions following a glucose load.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Caroline S. Johnson, Weizhe Hong, Paul E. Micevych
Summary: Research findings suggest that GABA neurons in the MeApd facilitate lordosis in female mice, while glutamate neurons may direct behavior away from social interactions. Photoinhibition of VGAT neurons decreased lordosis quotient (LQ), while photoexcitation of VGluT2 neurons increased time spent self-grooming, indicating different roles of GABA and glutamate in social and reproductive behaviors.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Lucie Dixsaut, Johannes Graeff
Summary: It is increasingly clear that long-term memory formation relies on a distributed network of brain areas, with the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) playing a crucial role in both early memory encoding and long-term storage. The mPFC, with its high functional connectivity to other memory-related brain areas, acts as a central hub across the lifetime of a memory, although there is still much to be discovered.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Haixing Zhong, Huamin Xu, Xin Li, Rou-gang Xie, Yunxin Shi, Ying Wang, Li Tong, Qianqian Zhu, Jing Han, Huiren Tao, Li Zhang, Zhian Hu, Xia Zhang, Ning Gu, Hailong Dong, Xufeng Xu
Summary: The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) plays a role in regulating sleep and wakefulness by controlling the activity of dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH) neurons. Stimulation of vmPFC neurons promotes wakefulness and suppresses non-REM sleep (NREM), while stimulating vmPFC projections in DMH produces opposite effects.
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Nadejda Bozadjieva-Kramer, Rachel A. Ross, David Q. Johnson, Henning Fenselau, David L. Haggerty, Brady Atwood, Bradford Lowell, Jonathan N. Flak
Summary: The study reveals that PACAP plays crucial roles in regulating metabolic rate and energy balance through multiple effector systems on various time scales, highlighting the diverse functions of PACAP in overall energy homeostasis.
Article
Neurosciences
Daniela Calvigioni, Janos Fuzik, Pierre Le Merre, Marina Slashcheva, Felix Jung, Cantin Ortiz, Antonio Lentini, Veronika Csillag, Marta Graziano, Ifigeneia Nikolakopoulou, Moritz Weglage, Iakovos Lazaridis, Hoseok Kim, Irene Lenzi, Hyunsoo Park, Bjorn Reinius, Marie Carlen, Konstantinos Meletis
Summary: The authors use patch-sequencing to study the diversity of hypothalamic neurons projecting to the habenula. They identify an estrogen receptor-expressing neuron type that signals aversion and stress in female mice. The glutamatergic LHA-LHb neurons have unique electrophysiological properties, molecular profiles, and projection patterns, with Esr1(+) neurons inducing aversion and Npy(+) neurons controlling rearing behavior.
NATURE NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Caitlyn J. Bartsch, Jessica T. Jacobs, Nooshin Mojahed, Elana Qasem, Molly Smith, Oliver Caldwell, Sophia Aaflaq, Jacob C. Nordman
Summary: This study demonstrated that traumatic stress can lead to structural changes in the neural pathway between the medial amygdala and the ventromedial hypothalamus. By using the mGRASP imaging technique, the researchers observed an increase in synapse formation in this pathway after acute foot shocks, suggesting that structural plasticity may contribute to persistent behavioral changes following traumatic stress. The study also found that NMDAR-dependent mechanisms play a key role in these synaptic changes.
FRONTIERS IN MOLECULAR NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Tamara B. Franklin, Bianca A. Silva, Zinaida Perova, Livia Marrone, Maria E. Masferrer, Yang Zhan, Angie Kaplan, Louise Greetham, Violaine Verrechia, Andreas Halman, Sara Pagella, Alexei L. Vyssotski, Anna Illarionova, Valery Grinevich, Tiago Branco, Cornelius T. Gross
NATURE NEUROSCIENCE
(2017)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jose V. Sanchez-Mut, Holger Heyn, Bianca A. Silva, Lucie Dixsaut, Paula Garcia-Esparcia, Enrique Vidal, Sergi Sayols, Liliane Glauser, Ana Monteagudo-Sanchez, Jordi Perez-Tur, Isidre Ferrer, David Monk, Bernard Schneider, Manel Esteller, Johannes Graeff
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Alexandre Bacq, Simone Astori, Elias Gebara, Wei Tang, Bianca A. Silva, Jose Sanchez-Mut, Jocelyn Grosse, Isabelle Guillot de Suduiraut, Olivia Zanoletti, Catherine Maclachlan, Graham W. Knott, Johannes Graeff, Carmen Sandi
MOLECULAR PSYCHIATRY
(2020)
Article
Neurosciences
Bianca A. Silva, Camilla Mattucci, Piotr Krzywkowski, Emanuele Murana, Anna Illarionova, Valery Grinevich, Newton S. Canteras, Davide Ragozzino, Cornelius T. Gross
NATURE NEUROSCIENCE
(2013)
Review
Neurosciences
Bianca A. Silva, Allison M. Burns, Johannes Graeff
PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY
(2019)
Article
Neurosciences
Bianca A. Silva, Simone Astori, Allison M. Burns, Hendrik Heiser, Lukas van den Heuvel, Giulia Santoni, Maria Fernanda Martinez-Reza, Carmen Sandi, Johannes Graeff
Summary: The research reveals that the extinction of remote fear memories depends on inputs from the thalamic nucleus reuniens (NRe) to the basolateral amygdala (BLA). Remote fear extinction activates NRe-to-BLA inputs and these pathways become potentiated upon fear reduction. Inhibition of the NRe impairs, while activation facilitates, remote fear extinction, indicating the crucial role of NRe in regulating BLA for extinction.
NATURE NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Review
Behavioral Sciences
Bianca A. Silva, Johannes Graff
Summary: This review examines the limited evidence on remote fear memory attenuation from animal and human research. It is found that although remote fear memories are harder to change compared to recent memories, they can still be attenuated through interventions targeted at the reconsolidation window during memory recall. The physiological mechanisms underlying remote reconsolidation-updating approaches are described, along with the potential enhancement through interventions promoting synaptic plasticity. By utilizing a relevant phase of memory, reconsolidation-updating has the potential to permanently alter remote fear memories.
TRENDS IN COGNITIVE SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Maria Esteban Masferrer, Bianca A. Silva, Kensaku Nomoto, Susana Q. Lima, Cornelius T. Gross
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2020)
Review
Neurosciences
Bianca A. Silva, Cornelius T. Gross, Johannes Graff