Anatomical and functional study of the cuneiform nucleus: A critical site to organize innate defensive behaviors.

Autor: Bindi RP; Deptarment of Anatomy, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil., Guimarães CC; Medical School, São Judas University, Cubatão, Brazil., de Oliveira AR; Deptarment of Anatomy, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil., Melleu FF; Deptarment of Anatomy, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil., de Lima MAX; Deptarment of Anatomy, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil., Baldo MVC; Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil., Motta SC; Deptarment of Anatomy, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil., Canteras NS; Deptarment of Anatomy, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences [Ann N Y Acad Sci] 2023 Mar; Vol. 1521 (1), pp. 79-95. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Jan 06.
DOI: 10.1111/nyas.14954
Abstrakt: The cuneiform nucleus (CUN) is a midbrain structure located lateral to the caudal part of the periaqueductal gray. In the present investigation, we first performed a systematic analysis of the afferent and efferent projections of the CUN using FluoroGold and Phaseolus vulgaris leucoagglutinin as retrograde and anterograde neuronal tracers, respectively. Next, we examined the behavioral responses to optogenetic activation of the CUN and evaluated the impact of pharmacological inactivation of the CUN in both innate and contextual fear responses to a predatory threat (i.e., a live cat). The present hodologic evidence indicates that the CUN might be viewed as a caudal component of the periaqueductal gray. The CUN has strong bidirectional links with the dorsolateral periaqueductal gray (PAGdl). Our hodological findings revealed that the CUN and PAGdl share a similar source of inputs involved in integrating information related to life-threatening events and that the CUN provides particularly strong projections to brain sites influencing antipredatory defensive behaviors. Our functional studies revealed that the CUN mediates innate freezing and flight antipredatory responses but does not seem to influence the acquisition and expression of learned fear responses.
(© 2023 New York Academy of Sciences.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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