Somatostatin-Positive Neurons in the Rostral Zona Incerta Modulate Innate Fear-Induced Defensive Response in Mice / 神经科学通报·英文版

Defensive behaviors induced by innate fear or Pavlovian fear conditioning are crucial for animals to avoid threats and ensure survival. The zona incerta (ZI) has been demonstrated to play important roles in fear learning and fear memory, as well as modulating auditory-induced innate defensive behavior. However, whether the neuronal subtypes in the ZI and specific circuits can mediate the innate fear response is largely unknown. Here, we found that somatostatin (SST)-positive neurons in the rostral ZI of mice were activated by a visual innate fear stimulus. Optogenetic inhibition of SST-positive neurons in the rostral ZI resulted in reduced flight responses to an overhead looming stimulus. Optogenetic activation of SST-positive neurons in the rostral ZI induced fear-like defensive behavior including increased immobility and bradycardia. In addition, we demonstrated that manipulation of the GABAergic projections from SST-positive neurons in the rostral ZI to the downstream nucleus reuniens (Re) mediated fear-like defensive behavior. Retrograde trans-synaptic tracing also revealed looming stimulus-activated neurons in the superior colliculus (SC) that projected to the Re-projecting SST-positive neurons in the rostral ZI (SC-ZIrSST-Re pathway). Together, our study elucidates the function of SST-positive neurons in the rostral ZI and the SC-ZIrSST-Re tri-synaptic circuit in mediating the innate fear response.

Activation of GABAergic neurons in the zona incerta accelerates anesthesia induction with sevoflurane and propofol without affecting anesthesia maintenance or awakening in mice / 南方医科大学学报

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the regulatory effects of GABAergic neurons in the zona incerta (ZI) on sevoflurane and propofol anesthesia.@*METHODS@#Forty-eight male C57BL/6J mice divided into 8 groups (n=6) were used in this study. In the study of sevoflurane anesthesia, chemogenetic experiment was performed in 2 groups of mice with injection of either adeno-associated virus carrying hM3Dq (hM3Dq group) or a virus carrying only mCherry (mCherry group). The optogenetic experiment was performed in another two groups of mice injected with an adeno-associated virus carrying ChR2 (ChR2 group) or GFP only (GFP group). The same experiments were also performed in mice for studying propofol anesthesia. Chemogenetics or optogenetics were used to induce the activation of GABAergic neurons in the ZI, and their regulatory effects on anesthesia induction and arousal with sevoflurane and propofol were observed; EEG monitoring was used to observe the changes in sevoflurane anesthesia maintenance after activation of the GABAergic neurons.@*RESULTS@#In sevoflurane anesthesia, the induction time of anesthesia was significantly shorter in hM3Dq group than in mCherry group (P < 0.05), and also shorter in ChR2 group than in GFP group (P < 0.01), but no significant difference was found in the awakening time between the two groups in either chemogenetic or optogenetic tests. Similar results were observed in chemogenetic and optogenetic experiments with propofol (P < 0.05 or 0.01). Photogenetic activation of the GABAergic neurons in the ZI did not cause significant changes in EEG spectrum during sevoflurane anesthesia maintenance.@*CONCLUSION@#Activation of the GABAergic neurons in the ZI promotes anesthesia induction of sevoflurane and propofol but does not affect anesthesia maintenance or awakening.

Glutamatergic Neurons in the Caudal Zona Incerta Regulate Parkinsonian Motor Symptoms in Mice / 神经科学通报·英文版

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common and fastest-growing neurodegenerative disorder. In recent years, it has been recognized that neurotransmitters other than dopamine and neuronal systems outside the basal ganglia are also related to PD pathogenesis. However, little is known about whether and how the caudal zona incerta (ZIc) regulates parkinsonian motor symptoms. Here, we showed that specific glutamatergic but not GABAergic ZIc

Treatment of Hemichoreoathetosis with Arrhythmic Proximal Tremor after Stroke: The Role of Zona Incerta as a Target for Deep Brain Stimulation

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the zona incerta has shown promising results in the reduction of medically refractory movement disorders. However, evidence supporting its efficacy in movement disorders secondary to hemorrhagic stroke or hemichoreoathetosis is limited. We describe a 48-year-old man who developed progressive hemichoreoathetosis with an arrhythmic, proximal tremor in his right arm following a thalamic hemorrhagic stroke. Pharmacological treatment was carried out with no change in the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS) score after 4 weeks (14). After six sessions of botulinum toxin treatment, a subtle improvement in the AIMS score (13) was registered, but no clinical improvement was noted. The arrhythmic proximal movements were significantly improved after DBS of the zona incerta with a major decrease in the patient’s AIMS score (8). The response to DBS occurring after the failure of pharmacological and botulinum toxin treatments suggests that zona incerta DBS may be an alternative for postthalamic hemorrhage movement disorders.