Fig. 1: Projections of the MRN, PFC and TRN to the MD.

A A schematic diagram of virus injections and retrograde tracing. Created by the authors. B Representative image of the injection site of AAV-retro-hSyn-mCherry in the MD. C Quantification of mCherry⁺ cells per mm² in various brain regions. Each point represents data from a single mouse. N = 5 mice. D Representative images of mCherry⁺ cells in the TRN, PFC, and MRN. E Immunofluorescence labeling showing Vglut2⁺ and DAPI staining in the MD. F Immunofluorescence labeling showing Gad67⁺ and DAPI staining in the MD. G Quantification of the proportion of Vglut2⁺ and Gad67⁺ cells in the MD. N = 6 mice per group. ^**P < 0.01, Student’s t tests. OFC orbitofrontal cortex, PFC prefrontal cortex, ACC anterior cingulate cortex, Mop primary motor cortex, Ssp primary somatosensory cortex, EC entorhinal cortex, Pir piriform cortex, RSP retrosplenial cortex, V1 primary visual cortex, A1 primary auditory cortex, HPC hippocampus, CM centromedian thalamic nucleus, ATN anterior thalamic nucleus, TRN reticular thalamic nucleus, GP globus pallidus, SNr substantia nigra pars reticulata, AMY amygdala, VMH ventromedial hypothalamus, VTA ventral tegmental area, MRN midbrain reticular nucleus, IC inferior colliculus, PnO pontine nucleus, PAG periaqueductal gray.