Fig. 5: vLGN is essential for fear of heights.

a, b c-Fos immunofluorescence in sections of the LGN from control and height-exposed mice. c Counts of c-Fos⁺ cells in subregions of the LGN (total, vLGN, and dLGN) (n = 6 mice/group). d Immunofluorescent co-staining of c-Fos (green) and GABA (red) in the vLGN of mice exposed to heights. Arrowheads indicate double-positive neurons. e The pie chart illustrates the proportion of double-positive cells among total c-Fos⁺ cells from n = 2 mice. f–k Calcium imaging of GABAergic neurons in vLGN. Cre-dependent GCaMP6s virus vectors were injected into the vLGN of Vgat-Cre mice, and optic fibers were implanted (f, g). Schematic of fiber optic recording. The same mouse was first exposed to open space at ground level as a control condition, followed by height exposure (h). Heatmaps (i) and time-based Ca²⁺ fluctuations (j) during control and height exposures are presented. Each short bar to the left of (i) indicates one mouse (n = 3 mice). k Comparison of the Ca²⁺ rise amplitude, based on the area under curve (AUC), calculated from (j). l, m Effects of pan-neuronal inhibition in vLGN on height fears (control n = 30 and CNO group n = 14). n, o Effects of GABAergic neuron inhibition in vLGN on fear of heights (n = 3 mice/group). Schematics of the virus vector injections are shown in (l) and (n), with OHP test results in (m) and (o). Pink dots symbolize individual mice. Data are presented as the mean ± S.E.M. with a one-tailed (^$) or two-tailed (^#) Student’s t-test. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.