Auditory cortex controls sound-driven innate defense behaviour through corticofugal projections to inferior colliculus.

ABSTRACT: Defense against environmental threats is essential for animal survival. However, the neural circuits responsible for transforming unconditioned sensory stimuli and generating defensive behaviours remain largely unclear. Here, we show that corticofugal neurons in the auditory cortex (ACx) targeting the inferior colliculus (IC) mediate an innate, sound-induced flight behaviour. Optogenetic activation of these neurons, or their projection terminals in the IC, is sufficient for initiating flight responses, while the inhibition of these projections reduces sound-induced flight responses. Corticocollicular axons monosynaptically innervate neurons in the cortex of the IC (ICx), and optogenetic activation of the projections from the ICx to the dorsal periaqueductal gray is sufficient for provoking

SUBMITTER: Xiong XR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4467028 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature