Topic: PAG ensembles

Instinctive behaviours, such as hunting and defense, are part of the natural repertoire of behaviours that are shaped by evolution and critical for the survival of both individual and species. The midbrain periaqueductal gray (PAG) has emerged as a bottleneck in the routing of most instinctive behaviours, translating sensory and cognitive information into an appropriate motor response. Yet, the exact mechanisms of this translation remain elusive. We aimed to identify the neural circuits in the brainstem bridging the initiation and execution of instinctive behaviours in mice by developing an an