RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Induction of flight via midbrain projections to the cuneiform nucleus JF bioRxiv FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory SP 2021.12.21.473683 DO 10.1101/2021.12.21.473683 A1 Emmy Tsang A1 Camilla Orlandini A1 Rahul Sureka A1 Alvaro H. Crevenna A1 Emerald Perlas A1 Izzie Prankerd A1 Maria E. Masferrer A1 Cornelius T. Gross YR 2021 UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/12/23/2021.12.21.473683.abstract AB 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 or 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 Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.