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A midline thalamic circuit determines reactions to visual threat

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Salay, Lindsey D., Ishiko, Nao, Huberman, Andrew D.·2018·Nature
DOI 10.1038/s41586-018-0078-2PMC PMC8442544
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Abstract

How our internal state is merged with our visual perception of an impending threat to drive an adaptive behavioural response is not known. Mice respond to visual threats by either freezing or seeking shelter. Here we show that nuclei of the ventral midline thalamus (vMT), the xiphoid nucleus (Xi) and nucleus reuniens (Re), represent crucial hubs in the network controlling behavioural responses to visual threats. The Xi projects to the basolateral amygdala to promote saliency-reducing responses to threats, such as freezing, whereas the Re projects to the medial prefrontal cortex (Re→mPFC) to promote saliency-enhancing, even confrontational responses to threats, such as tail rattling. Activation of the Re→mPFC pathway also increases autonomic arousal in a manner that is rewarding. The vMT is therefore important for biasing how internal states are translated into opposing categories of behavioural responses to perceived threats. These findings may have implications for understanding disorders of arousal and adaptive decision-making, such as phobias, post-traumatic stress and addictions.

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  • Different emotional and cognitive states alter the depth and frequency of breathing, which impacts emotional state in part by regulation of carbon dioxide levels.

    “It is also clear that different emotional and cognitive states alter the depth and frequency of breathing,8,9,10,11,12 which likewise impacts emotional state, in part by regulation of carbon dioxide levels.13,14,15,16,17”

    From Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal (2023) · cites this paper as [12]

    The section “vMT activation increases arousal level” (page unavailable) reports that activating a thalamic circuit increased arousal in mice and produced a trend toward increased breathing rate. That supports a limited link between arousal and breathing frequency, but the paper does not establish that different emotional or cognitive states change breathing depth and frequency, or that breathing affects emotion through carbon dioxide regulation. (LLM, conf=0.82)

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Salay, L. D., Ishiko, N., & Huberman, A. D.
Affiliations
Stanford Medicine (US)
Corresponding author
Huberman, Andrew D.
ORCID
Venue
Nature
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2018-05
Volume
557
Issue
7704
Pages
183-189
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
DOI
10.1038/s41586-018-0078-2
PMC
PMC8442544
OpenAlex
W2802438942
Cited by
164
References
7
Citations by year
2026: 14 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 31 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 11
FWCI
10.25
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Eye Institute (R01EY022157, P30EY026877)
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (U01NS090562)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
Keywords
nucleus reuniens, threat perception, freezing behavior, basolateral amygdala, medial prefrontal cortex, autonomic arousal, internal state, salience, phobia, post-traumatic stress, addiction
MeSH terms
Adaptation, Biological, Animals, Arousal, Decision Making, Fear, Female, Male, Neural Pathways, Photic Stimulation, Thalamus, Prefrontal Cortex, Midline Thalamic Nuclei, Mice

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