Zebrafish oxytocin neurons drive nocifensive behavior via brainstem premotor targets.

ABSTRACT: Animals have evolved specialized neural circuits to defend themselves from pain- and injury-causing stimuli. Using a combination of optical, behavioral and genetic approaches in the larval zebrafish, we describe a novel role for hypothalamic oxytocin (OXT) neurons in the processing of noxious stimuli. In vivo imaging revealed that a large and distributed fraction of zebrafish OXT neurons respond strongly to noxious inputs, including the activation of damage-sensing TRPA1 receptors. OXT population activity reflects the sensorimotor transformation of the noxious stimulus, with some neurons encoding sensory information and others correlating more strongly with large-angle swims. Notably, OXT neuron activation is sufficient to generate this defensive behavior via the recruitment of brainstem p

SUBMITTER: Wee CL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6820349 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature