Huikun Wang, Rodolfo J Flores, Hector E Yarur, Aaron Limoges, Hector Bravo-Rivera, Sanne M Casello, Niharika Loomba, Juan Enriquez-Traba, Miguel Arenivar, Queenie Wang, Robert Ganley, Charu Ramakrishnan, Lief E Fenno, Yoon Kim, Karl Deisseroth, Grace Or, Chunyang Dong, Mark A Hoon, Lin Tian, Hugo A Tejeda
Prefrontal cortical (PFC) circuits provide top-down control of threat reactivity. This includes ventromedial PFC (vmPFC) circuitry, which plays a role in suppressing fear-related behavioral states. Dynorphin (Dyn) has been implicated in mediating negative affect and maladaptive behaviors induced by severe threats and is expressed in limbic circuits, including the vmPFC. However, there is a critical knowledge gap in our understanding of how vmPFC Dyn-expressing neurons and Dyn transmission detect threats and regulate expression of defensive behaviors...
April 5, 2024: Neuron