Lateral hypothalamic fast-spiking parvalbumin neurons modulate nociception through connections in the periaqueductal gray area.

ABSTRACT: A pivotal role of the lateral hypothalamus (LH) in regulating appetitive and reward-related behaviors has been evident for decades. However, the contributions of LH circuits to other survival behaviors have been less explored. Here we examine how lateral hypothalamic neurons that express the calcium-binding protein parvalbumin (PVALB; LH^PV neurons), a small cluster of neurons within the LH glutamatergic circuitry, modulate nociception in mice. We find that photostimulation of LH^PV neurons suppresses nociception to an acute, noxious thermal stimulus, whereas photoinhibition potentiates thermal nociception. Moreover, we demonstrate that LH^PV axons form functional excitatory synapses on neurons in the ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (vlPAG), and photostimula

SUBMITTER: Siemian JN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6700312 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature