Infralimbic parvalbumin neural activity facilitates cued threat avoidance
The infralimbic cortex (IL) is essential for flexible behavioral responses to threatening environmental events. Reactive behaviors such as freezing or flight are adaptive in some contexts, but in others a strategic avoidance behavior may be more advantageous. IL has been implicated in avoidance, but...
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eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2025-04-01
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| Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/91221 |
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| author | Yi-Yun Ho Qiuwei Yang Priyanka Boddu David A Bulkin Melissa R Warden |
| author_facet | Yi-Yun Ho Qiuwei Yang Priyanka Boddu David A Bulkin Melissa R Warden |
| author_sort | Yi-Yun Ho |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The infralimbic cortex (IL) is essential for flexible behavioral responses to threatening environmental events. Reactive behaviors such as freezing or flight are adaptive in some contexts, but in others a strategic avoidance behavior may be more advantageous. IL has been implicated in avoidance, but the contribution of distinct IL neural subtypes with differing molecular identities and wiring patterns is poorly understood. Here, we study IL parvalbumin (PV) interneurons in mice as they engage in active avoidance behavior, a behavior in which mice must suppress freezing in order to move to safety. We find that activity in inhibitory PV neurons increases during movement to avoid the shock in this behavioral paradigm, and that PV activity during movement emerges after mice have experienced a single shock, prior to learning avoidance. PV neural activity does not change during movement toward cued rewards or during general locomotion in the open field, behavioral paradigms where freezing does not need to be suppressed to enable movement. Optogenetic suppression of PV neurons increases the duration of freezing and delays the onset of avoidance behavior, but does not affect movement toward rewards or general locomotion. These data provide evidence that IL PV neurons support strategic avoidance behavior by suppressing freezing. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4fde5daf8aaa45ea825d1448e5cfc138 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2050-084X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
| record_format | Article |
| series | eLife |
| spelling | doaj-art-4fde5daf8aaa45ea825d1448e5cfc1382025-08-20T03:06:53ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2025-04-011210.7554/eLife.91221Infralimbic parvalbumin neural activity facilitates cued threat avoidanceYi-Yun Ho0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2465-790XQiuwei Yang1Priyanka Boddu2David A Bulkin3Melissa R Warden4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2240-3997Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, United States; Cornell Neurotech, Cornell University, Ithaca, United StatesDepartment of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, United StatesDepartment of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, United StatesDepartment of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, United States; Cornell Neurotech, Cornell University, Ithaca, United StatesDepartment of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, United States; Cornell Neurotech, Cornell University, Ithaca, United States; Department of Translational Neurosciences, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Phoenix, United States; Graduate Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience, University of Arizona, Tucson, United StatesThe infralimbic cortex (IL) is essential for flexible behavioral responses to threatening environmental events. Reactive behaviors such as freezing or flight are adaptive in some contexts, but in others a strategic avoidance behavior may be more advantageous. IL has been implicated in avoidance, but the contribution of distinct IL neural subtypes with differing molecular identities and wiring patterns is poorly understood. Here, we study IL parvalbumin (PV) interneurons in mice as they engage in active avoidance behavior, a behavior in which mice must suppress freezing in order to move to safety. We find that activity in inhibitory PV neurons increases during movement to avoid the shock in this behavioral paradigm, and that PV activity during movement emerges after mice have experienced a single shock, prior to learning avoidance. PV neural activity does not change during movement toward cued rewards or during general locomotion in the open field, behavioral paradigms where freezing does not need to be suppressed to enable movement. Optogenetic suppression of PV neurons increases the duration of freezing and delays the onset of avoidance behavior, but does not affect movement toward rewards or general locomotion. These data provide evidence that IL PV neurons support strategic avoidance behavior by suppressing freezing.https://elifesciences.org/articles/91221parvalbuminavoidanceinfralimbicprefrontal corteximagingoptogenetic |
| spellingShingle | Yi-Yun Ho Qiuwei Yang Priyanka Boddu David A Bulkin Melissa R Warden Infralimbic parvalbumin neural activity facilitates cued threat avoidance eLife parvalbumin avoidance infralimbic prefrontal cortex imaging optogenetic |
| title | Infralimbic parvalbumin neural activity facilitates cued threat avoidance |
| title_full | Infralimbic parvalbumin neural activity facilitates cued threat avoidance |
| title_fullStr | Infralimbic parvalbumin neural activity facilitates cued threat avoidance |
| title_full_unstemmed | Infralimbic parvalbumin neural activity facilitates cued threat avoidance |
| title_short | Infralimbic parvalbumin neural activity facilitates cued threat avoidance |
| title_sort | infralimbic parvalbumin neural activity facilitates cued threat avoidance |
| topic | parvalbumin avoidance infralimbic prefrontal cortex imaging optogenetic |
| url | https://elifesciences.org/articles/91221 |
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