Fig. 2: aBLA and pBLA inputs oppositely regulate the activity of adBNST neurons. | Nature Communications

Fig. 2: aBLA and pBLA inputs oppositely regulate the activity of adBNST neurons.

From: Synergism between two BLA-to-BNST pathways for appropriate expression of anxiety-like behaviors in male mice

Fig. 2

a Experimental procedures for investigating the effect of optogenetic activation of aBLA or pBLA inputs on the dBNST neuronal activity in vitro. b Schematic showing recording of the firing of adBNST neurons to optogenetic activation of the entire aBLA inputs in dBNST. c Representative trace showing the firing of an adBNST neuron before, during and after aBLA inputs activation. d Summary of the spike frequency as shown in (c). Data from individual neurons were shown in gray. Inset showing the percentage of adBNST cells excited or inhibited following aBLA inputs activation. n = 16 neurons/5 mice; ***p < 0.001, one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni’s multiple comparisons test. e Schematic showing recording of the firing of ovBNST neurons upon activation of pBLA inputs in dBNST. f Representative trace showing the firing of an ovBNST neuron before, during and after pBLA inputs activation. g Summary of the spike frequency as shown in (f). Data from individual neurons were shown in gray. Inset showing the percentage of ovBNST cells excited or inhibited following pBLA inputs activation. n = 14 neurons/5 mice, ***p < 0.001, one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni’s multiple comparisons test. h–j Same as in (e–g) except that the recordings were made on the adBNST neurons. n = 16 neurons/5 mice, ***p < 0.001, one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni’s multiple comparisons test. k Experimental procedures for investigating the effect of chemogenetic activation of aBLA→dBNST or pBLA→dBNST PNs on adBNST neuronal activity in vivo. i.p., intraperitoneal injection. l Left: Representative images showing the expression of GCaMP6s (green) in adBNST cells and the projections (red) from aBLA→dBNST PNs. The positioning of optical fiber was marked with the dashed lines. Right: Expression of hM3Dq in aBLA→dBNST PNs. Scale bar: 200 μm. This experiment was repeated 7 times with similar results. m Representative traces showing the calcium signals in adBNST cells before and after vehicle (top) or CNO (bottom) administration. n–p Summary of the calcium signal changes in adBNST cells following vehicle and CNO administration. Data from individual mice were shown in gray. n = 7 mice, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, two tailed paired Student’s t-test. q–u Same as in (n–p) except that hM3Dq was expressed in pBLA→dBNST PNs. n = 6 mice, **P < 0.01, two tailed paired Student’s t-test. All data shown as means ± s.e.m. Source data including statistics are provided as a Source Date file.

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