RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 More than a feeling: central amygdala mediates social transfer of information about proximity of danger
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2020.02.28.969113
DO 10.1101/2020.02.28.969113
A1 K. Andraka
A1 K. Kondrakiewicz
A1 K. Rojek-Sito
A1 K. Ziegart-Sadowska
A1 K. Meyza
A1 T. Nikolaev
A1 A. Hamed
A1 M. Kursa
A1 M. Wójcik
A1 K. Danielewski
A1 M. Wiatrowska
A1 E. Kublik
A1 M. Bekisz
A1 T. Lebitko
A1 D. Duque
A1 T. Jaworski
A1 H. Madej
A1 W. Konopka
A1 P. M. Boguszewski
A1 E. Knapska
YR 2020
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/03/06/2020.02.28.969113.abstract
AB To survive, an animal must adequately respond to challenges presented by the environment. Social animals can learn about danger from fear of conspecifics which allows them to avoid predation and other threats without costly, first-hand experience. However, it remains unclear as to whether animals can transmit specific information that helps an individual avoid harm or whether the transmitted social signals simply increase vigilance in a non-specific manner. Here we demonstrate that animals can select appropriate defensive strategies in a novel environment depending on cues from the conspecific and, using opsins targeted to behaviorally activated neurons, identify distinct neuronal circuits in the central amygdala (CeA) that are crucial for choosing a context-appropriate reaction. The identified circuits differ in molecular markers and patterns of connectivity. Thus, we show that social signals carry explicit information about proximity of danger, necessary for choosing a context-appropriate reaction, and that the choosing process is mediated by the CeA circuits.