Neural Circuit Mechanisms Involved in Animals' Detection of and Response to Visual Threats / 神经科学通报·英文版

Evading or escaping from predators is one of the most crucial issues for survival across the animal kingdom. The timely detection of predators and the initiation of appropriate fight-or-flight responses are innate capabilities of the nervous system. Here we review recent progress in our understanding of innate visually-triggered defensive behaviors and the underlying neural circuit mechanisms, and a comparison among vinegar flies, zebrafish, and mice is included. This overview covers the anatomical and functional aspects of the neural circuits involved in this process, including visual threat processing and identification, the selection of appropriate behavioral responses, and the initiation of these innate defensive behaviors. The emphasis of this review is on the early stages of this pathway, namely, threat identification from complex visual inputs and how behavioral choices are influenced by differences in visual threats. We also briefly cover how the innate defensive response is processed centrally. Based on these summaries, we discuss coding strategies for visual threats and propose a common prototypical pathway for rapid innate defensive responses.

Efficacy evaluation and neurobiological mechanism of psychedelics based on looming model / 中国药理学与毒理学杂志

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of psychedelics on innate fear behavior of mice in Looming model(LM)and its neurobiological mechanism.METH-ODS ① Adult male C57BL/6J mice were randomly divid-ed into saline group,DOM group,psilocybin group and mescaline group.The drugs of the corresponding groups were given ip injecction 5 min in advance and LM were used to test the effect of them on freezing time in shelter of mice.② The mice were performing ip given DOM or psilocybin following 5-HT2A receptor antagonist M100907 ip 30 min later involved looming experiments.③Quan-tified the expression of EGR1 protein in mouse brains by immunofluorescence staining,then use ibotenic acid(IBO)damaged the mouse brain regions based on the result above and performed looming experiments.④ Specifically activate or inhibit CaMK Ⅱ,PV,VIP and SOM neurons of mice in saline or psilocybin groups respec-tively by chemical genetic methods and followed looming experiments.RESULTS ① In LM,the freezing time in shelter of mice in DOM,psilocybin and mescaline groups was significantly shorter compared to the saline group(P<0.05),and the dose-effect curves of above psyche-delics were U-shaped.② Compared with the vehicle + psilocybin/DOM groups,the freezing time in shelter of mice in M100907 + psilocybin/DOM groups was signifi-cantly prolonged(P<0.05),and there was no significant difference between the vehicle + saline group and the M100907 + psilocybin/DOM groups.③ Psilocybin signifi-cantly increased the expression of EGR1 protein in prelim-bic cortex(PrL)compared with saline,and the damage of PrL could effectively antagonized the effect of psilocybin shortening the freezing time in LM.④ Chemicalgenetic specific inhibition of CaMK Ⅱ,PV or VIP neurons in PrL could effectively antagonize the effect of psilocybin in LM,while chemicalgenetic specific activation of CaMK Ⅱneurons could significantly shorten the freezing time of saline-treated mice.CONCLUSION Psychedelics have capability to waken the innate fear behavior like freez-ing of mice in LM,and this effect is mediated by 5-HT2A receptor and CaMK Ⅱneuron in PrL.

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.

An Infrared Touch System for Automatic Behavior Monitoring / 神经科学通报·英文版

Key requirements of successful animal behavior research in the laboratory are robustness, objectivity, and high throughput, which apply to both the recording and analysis of behavior. Many automatic methods of monitoring animal behavior meet these requirements. However, they usually depend on high-performing hardware and sophisticated software, which may be expensive. Here, we describe an automatic infrared behavior-monitor (AIBM) system based on an infrared touchscreen frame. Using this, animal positions can be recorded and used for further behavioral analysis by any PC supporting touch events. This system detects animal behavior in real time and gives closed-loop feedback using relatively low computing resources and simple algorithms. The AIBM system automatically records and analyzes multiple types of animal behavior in a highly efficient, unbiased, and low-cost manner.

Looming cue sounds: effects on alertness and attention orientation / Dica auditiva em aproximação: efeitos no alerta e na orientação da atenção / Sonido que se acerca: efectos sobre la atención

Studies suggest a prioritization in the neural processing of looming sounds. A little explored issue is the relationship between this perceptual bias and the orienting and alerting auditory attention networks. The present study investigated the effect of a warning sound on the speed of response to a subsequent target sound (Experiment 1) and a possible influence of this type of cue sound on the auditory orientation of attention (Experiment 2). The results of the two experiments suggest a significant reduction in the reaction time for a subsequent target sound due to the previous presentation (500 ms) of a looming warning sound. There was no significant effect of the cue sound on auditory attention orientation.

Estudos sugerem uma priorização no processamento neural de sons em movimento de aproximação. Uma questão ainda pouco explorada é a relação entre esse viés perceptivo e as redes atentivas auditivas de orientação e alerta. O presente estudo investigou o efeito de um sinal sonoro de alerta na rapidez de resposta a um alvo sonoro subsequente (Exp.1) e uma possível influência desse tipo de dica auditiva na orientação auricular da atenção (Exp. 2). Os resultados sugerem uma redução significativa no tempo de reação para um alvo sonoro subsequente em função da apresentação prévia (500 ms) de um sinal sonoro de alerta em aproximação. Não foi observado um efeito significativo da dica auditiva na orientação auditiva da atenção.

Estudios sugieren dar prioridad al procesamiento neural de sonidos que se mueven aproximándose. Un aspecto poco explorado es la relación entre ese y las redes de la atención. El presente estudio investigó el efecto de una señal previa sonora de alerta, en la rapidez de respuesta a un objetivo sonoro subsecuente (Exp. 1) y una posible influencia de ese tipo de señal previa en la orientación de la atención (Exp. 2). Los resultados sugieren una reducción significativa en el tiempo de reacción para un objetivo sonoro subsecuente, en función de la presentación (500 ms) de una señal previa sonora de alerta que se aproxima. No fue observado un efecto significativo de la señal previa en la orientación de la atención.

Influence of looming cognitive style and fear of negative evaluation on anxiety in college students / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

Objective To explore the effect of looming cognitive style and negative evaluation on anxiety in college students.Methods A total of 300 college students were assessed with looming maladaptive style questionnaire(LMSQ),Beck anxiety inventory(BAI) and fear of negative evaluation scale (FNE).Results (1)There was significant gender difference in fear of negative evaluation in college students (90.16±11.69 vs 97.63± 11.69,t=-2.770,P＜0.05),and there was no significant gender difference in looming cognitive style and anxiety(50.49± 11.59 vs 53.67± 11.65,t=-2.770,P＞0.05;29.82±7.89 vs 28.84±7.22,t=0.813,P＞0.05).(2) LCS were positively correlated with fear of negative evaluation and anxiety (P＜ 0.01).(3) Looming cognitive style could forecast anxiety in college students (β=0.257).Looming cognitive style and fear of negative evaluation could forecast anxiety in college students together (β1 =0.137,β 2 =0.247).(4) The meditation effects of fear of negative evaluation in total effect were 0.468.Conclusion Looming cognitive style and fear of negative evaluation are important factors influencing the anxiety of college students,fear of negative evaluation plays an important mediation role between looming cognitive style and anxiety of college students.

Chinese version of looming maladaptive style questionnaire / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

Objective To revise looming maladaptive style questionnaire(LMSQ-R) and examine its reliability and validity.Methods 284 undergraduates were measured preparedly with LMSQ-R,281 university students participated in a retest,using LMSQ-R,fear of negative evaluation scale (FNE),Beck anxiety inventory (BAI),Beck depression inventory (BDI).Results ①The item distinguish analysis was acceptable.②Reliability analysis confirmed that Cronbach α coefficient of LMSQ-R was 0.736,Cronbach α coefficient of the two subscales were 0.593 and 0.636.The test-retest reliability of LMSQ-R ranged from 0.564 to 0.700.③Confirmatory factor analysis suggested that the first order six factor-second order two factor model was perfect according to the evaluation criteria.The correlation coefficient between the two subscales was 0.527,the correlation coefficients among the two subscales and the total score ranged from 0.872 to 0.875.The correlation coefficients among the LMSQ-R and FNE,BAI,BDI ranged from 0.872 to 0.875,the results had statistical significance.Conclusion The revised LMSQ-R shows the satisfactory reliability and validity in university students.It can be used as a useful testing tool of LCS in psychological research.