| First Author | Bowen AJ | Year | 2023 |
| Journal | Nat Commun | Volume | 14 |
| Issue | 1 | Pages | 196 |
| PubMed ID | 36639374 | Mgi Jnum | J:332831 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:7428013 | Doi | 10.1038/s41467-023-35826-4 |
| Citation | Bowen AJ, et al. (2023) Topographic representation of current and future threats in the mouse nociceptive amygdala. Nat Commun 14(1):196 |
| abstractText | Adaptive behaviors arise from an integration of current sensory context and internal representations of past experiences. The central amygdala (CeA) is positioned as a key integrator of cognitive and affective signals, yet it remains unknown whether individual populations simultaneously carry current- and future-state representations. We find that a primary nociceptive population within the CeA of mice, defined by CGRP-receptor (Calcrl) expression, receives topographic sensory information, with spatially defined representations of internal and external stimuli. While Calcrl+ neurons in both the rostral and caudal CeA respond to noxious stimuli, rostral neurons promote locomotor responses to externally sourced threats, while caudal CeA Calcrl+ neurons are activated by internal threats and promote passive coping behaviors and associative valence coding. During associative fear learning, rostral CeA Calcrl+ neurons stably encode noxious stimulus occurrence, while caudal CeA Calcrl+ neurons acquire predictive responses. This arrangement supports valence-aligned representations of current and future threats for the generation of adaptive behaviors. |
