Lateral hypothalamic glutamatergic inputs to VTA glutamatergic neurons mediate prioritization of innate defensive behavior over feeding

@article{pmid38195566b,

title = {Lateral hypothalamic glutamatergic inputs to VTA glutamatergic neurons mediate prioritization of innate defensive behavior over feeding},

author = {M Flavia Barbano and Shiliang Zhang and Emma Chen and Orlando Espinoza and Uzma Mohammad and Yocasta Alvarez-Bagnarol and Bing Liu and Suyun Hahn and Marisela Morales},

url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38195566/},

doi = {10.1038/s41467-023-44633-w},

issn = {2041-1723},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

urldate = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Nat Commun},

volume = {15},

number = {1},

pages = {403},

abstract = {The lateral hypothalamus (LH) is involved in feeding behavior and defense responses by interacting with different brain structures, including the Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA). Emerging evidence indicates that LH-glutamatergic neurons infrequently synapse on VTA-dopamine neurons but preferentially establish multiple synapses on VTA-glutamatergic neurons. Here, we demonstrated that LH-glutamatergic inputs to VTA promoted active avoidance, long-term aversion, and escape attempts. By testing feeding in the presence of a predator, we observed that ongoing feeding was decreased, and that this predator-induced decrease in feeding was abolished by photoinhibition of the LH-glutamatergic inputs to VTA. By VTA specific neuronal ablation, we established that predator-induced decreases in feeding were mediated by VTA-glutamatergic neurons but not by dopamine or GABA neurons. Thus, we provided evidence for an unanticipated neuronal circuitry between LH-glutamatergic inputs to VTA-glutamatergic neurons that plays a role in prioritizing escape, and in the switch from feeding to escape in mice.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}