Topic: dorsal periaqueductal gray

Animals faced with predatorial threats innately react by escaping to safety. Although escape is instinctive, it is also flexible enough to adapt to dynamic changes in the environment. For example, animals adapt to the risk of predation by increasing escape probability when there is a higher incidence of predator attacks. This flexibility is critical for maximizing the adaptiveness of behavioural choices, but the underlying mechanisms are unknown. It has recently been shown that activation of neurons in the dorsal periaqueductal gray (dPAG) is the main step for commanding escape initiation. Her

When confronted with immediate threats, selecting the appropriate behavior at the right moment is essential for survival. Animals must constantly process information from the environment to accurately identify potential danger and respond by escaping to safety. While escape is largely instinctive, it is also adaptable, allowing animals to adjust to changing environmental conditions and internal states. The superior colliculus and dorsal periaqueductal gray (dPAG) play a crucial role in the neural circuitry responsible for processing threatening cues and triggering escape responses. However, th

Animals faced with predatorial threats innately react by escaping to safety. Although escape is instinctive, it is also flexible enough to adapt to dynamic changes in the environment. For example, animals adapt to the risk of predation by increasing escape probability when there is a higher incidence of predator attacks. This flexibility is critical for maximizing the adaptiveness of behavioural choices, but the underlying mechanisms are unknown. Previous work has shown that activation of neurons in the dorsal periaqueductal gray (dPAG) is the main step for commanding escape initiation. Here w

To survive, animals have to finely regulate their threat assessment and escape behavior. In mice, the brainstem dorsal periaqueductal gray (dPAG) generates innate defensive behaviors towards a multitude of threats, including predators, prey, and aggressive conspecifics. dPAG integrates threat information coming from diverse inputs with cognitive information coming from cortical areas such as the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Glutamatergic layer 5 neurons in ACC project to dPAG where they inhibit the expression of defensive behavior. In vivo single-unit recordings in dPAG identified two majo

Animal survival depends on effective predator avoidance mechanisms. However, an innately threatening stimulus may prove non-threatening, allowing the animal to ignore it over time. Such adaptation is exemplified by the learned suppression of escape (LSE) paradigm, in which animals adapt to repeated threatening stimuli. Neuromodulation, and more specifically serotonin modulation has been implicated in the expression and modulation of defensive responses. However, its role in the LSE remains unknown. Recently, we observed an upregulation of the serotonin biosynthesis pathway in the dorsal periaq