Fig. 3: Differential roles of the superior colliculus (SC) and the tail of the striatum (TS) in the crescendo-induced defensive behavior.

a Silencing SC with muscimol. Scale bar, 200 µm. PAG, periaqueductal gray. b Crescendo-induced behavioral responses of 10 mice two days before (left) and right after (right) silencing SC. c Comparison of crescendo-induced freezing duration (left, p = 0.358, two-sided paired t test, t = −0.968, n = 10 mice) and normalized top speed (right, **p = 0.005, two-sided paired t test, t = 3.239, n = 10) before and after silencing SC. Data are presented as mean ± s.e.m. The center presents the mean value and the bar represents s.e.m. d Injection of AAV-GFP in AC. Left, expression at the injection site. Right, AC axons in TS. Scale bars, 500 µm. Blue, Nissl staining. AC auditory cortex; TeA temporal association cortex. e Injection of AAV1-hSyn-Cre in AC of Ai14 (Cre-dependent tdTomato) mice. Left, tdTomato (red) expression at the injection site. Middle and right (zoom in), transsynaptically labeled AC-recipient neurons in TS. Blue, Nissl staining. Scale bars, 500 (left and middle) and 100 (right) µm. LA, lateral amygdala. f Left, injection of AAV-CaMKII-ChR2 in TS. Right, ChR2 (green) expression in TS. Scale bar, 500 µm. GPe globus pallidus externa, GPi globus pallidus interna. g Plot of speed for an example animal in response to LED activation (10 s) of TS neurons. Inset, behavioral outcome for six mice. h Top speed (normalized to the top speed during 5-s window before stimulation trigger) in the LED off and LED on condition. **p = 0.005, two-sided paired t test, t = 4.002. Data are presented as mean ± s.e.m. The center presents the mean value and the bar represents s.e.m.