Nature Communications (Mar 2018)

Divergent midbrain circuits orchestrate escape and freezing responses to looming stimuli in mice

  • Congping Shang,
  • Zijun Chen,
  • Aixue Liu,
  • Yang Li,
  • Jiajing Zhang,
  • Baole Qu,
  • Fei Yan,
  • Yaning Zhang,
  • Weixiu Liu,
  • Zhihui Liu,
  • Xiaofei Guo,
  • Dapeng Li,
  • Yi Wang,
  • Peng Cao

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03580-7
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 1
pp. 1 – 17

Abstract

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In response to environmental threats, such as visual looming stimuli, mice either freeze or escape. Here the authors demonstrate that these two behaviors are mediated by separate tectofugal pathways formed by parvalbumin-positive neurons in the superior colliculus.