Topic: periaqueductal grey

Neurons of the paraventricular thalamic nucleus (PVT) regulates emotional and motivational behavior via highly collateralized axon arbour innervating several forebrain areas. Maintaining an optimal excitation-inhibition balance is vital for PVT function, yet the sources of glutamatergic and GABAergic inputs are presently unclear. We identified subcortical glutamatergic and GABAergic inputs to the PVT by retrograde viral tracing in vGLUT2-Cre and vGAT-Cre mice, respectively. We found distinct retrogradely labelled cell groups containing purely vGLUT2+positive, purely vGAT+ or mixed neurons thro

Engaging with nature provides numerous physical and mental health benefits, including reductions in self-reported pain. However, it remains unclear whether these reduced subjective ratings reflect modulations specific to pain, such as changes in low-level nociceptive or high-level cognitive-emotional processing or can be explained by domain-general factors unspecific to pain. To answer this question, we conducted a preregistered functional MRI experiment during which healthy participants (N = 49) received individually calibrated painful electrical shocks while exposed to audio-visual virtual n

AimsChallenging behaviours, such as aggression and irritability, are manifested by up to two thirds of autistic individuals. However, despite the detrimental effects challenging behaviours, particularly aggression, have on life of autistic individuals and their families, currently available treatment options are typically borrowed from other areas of psychiatry, and the FDA approved drugs for treatment of ASD-associated irritability are burdened with serious side effects. Therefore, in this study we investigated the effects of oxytocin, a neuropeptide with reported prosocial and anti-aggressiv

Interoception, the process through which afferent information reaches the brain to report the body's physiological state, is a critical element in adapting responses to potential threats. Cardiac interoceptive information has been shown to play a crucial role in these adaptive defensive processes. Neuronal circuits within the periaqueductal grey (PAG) play a pivotal role in controlling heart function, yet it remains unknown how PAG circuits process interoceptive signals as part of a defensive reaction to threats. Employing trans-synaptic retrograde tracing, we demonstrate that glycinergic neur