Induction of flight via midbrain projections to the cuneiform nucleus.

The dorsal periaqueductal gray is a midbrain structure implicated in the control of defensive behaviors and the processing of painful stimuli. Electrical stimulation or optogenetic activation of excitatory neurons in dorsal periaqueductal gray results in freezing or flight behavior at low and high intensity, respectively. However, the output structures that mediate these defensive behaviors remain unconfirmed. Here we carried out a targeted classification of neuron types in dorsal periaqueductal gray using multiplex in situ sequencing and then applied cell-type and projection-specific optogenetic stimulation to identify projections from dorsal periaqueductal grey to the cuneiform nucleus that promoted goal-directed flight behavior. These data confirmed that descending outputs from dorsal periaqueductal gray serve as a trigger for directed escape behavior.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
(Copyright: © 2023 Tsang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)