Divergent encoding of active avoidance behavior in corticostriatal and corticolimbic projections
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Abstract
Active avoidance behavior, in which an animal performs an action to avoid a stressor, is crucial for survival and may provide insight into avoidance behaviors seen in anxiety disorders. Active avoidance requires the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), which is thought to regulate avoidance via downstream projections to the striatum and amygdala. However, the endogenous activity of dmPFC projections during active avoidance learning has never been recorded. Here we utilized fiber photometry to record from the dmPFC and its axonal projections to the dorsomedial striatum (DMS) and the basolateral amygdala (BLA) during active avoidance learning in both male and female mice. We examined neural activity during conditioned stimulus (CS) presentations and during clinically relevant behaviors such as active avoidance or cued freezing. Both prefrontal projections showed learning-related increases in activity during CS onset throughout active avoidance training. The dmPFC as a whole showed increased and decreased patterns of activity during avoidance and cued freezing, respectively. Finally, dmPFC-DMS and dmPFC-BLA projections show divergent encoding of active avoidance behavior, with the dmPFC-DMS projection showing increased activity and the dmPFC-BLA projection showing decreased activity during active avoidance. Our results demonstrate task-relevant encoding of active avoidance in projection-specific dmPFC subpopulations that play distinct but complementary roles in active avoidance learning.
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Previous studies demonstrate that in animal models of neurodegenerative disorders, such as AD, cognitive function and learning and memory are significantly impaired.
“Previous studies demonstrate that in animal models of neurodegenerative disorders, such as AD, cognitive function and learning and memory are significantly impaired (Anagnostaras et al., 2010; Chaudry et al., 2022; Kajs et al., 2022; Webster et al., 2014) and that VEEV infections can have an adverse effect on learning memory (Dave and Klein, 2023; Ronca et al., 2016).”
From Arbovirus infection increases the risk for the development of neurodegenerative disease pathology in the murine model (2024) · cites this paper as Kajs et al., 2022
The Materials and methods (Animals; page unavailable) describe wild-type mice, and the Results examine active avoidance learning, not neurodegenerative-disease models. Searches for Alzheimer’s disease, neurodegeneration, and impaired cognition or memory found no passage addressing the attributed claim. (LLM, conf=0.77)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredActive avoidance tests are particularly valuable for evaluating hippocampal-dependent cognitive functions.
“Active avoidance tests are particularly valuable for evaluating hippocampal-dependent cognitive functions (Anagnostaras et al., 2010; Chaudry et al., 2022; Kajs et al., 2022).”
From Arbovirus infection increases the risk for the development of neurodegenerative disease pathology in the murine model (2024) · cites this paper as Kajs et al., 2022
The Introduction and Discussion describe active avoidance as a way to study avoidance behavior and its encoding in dorsomedial prefrontal circuits. The Materials and methods section describes the active avoidance test used, but neither it nor the retrieved passages addresses whether such tests are particularly valuable for evaluating hippocampal-dependent cognitive functions (searched: hippocampus, hippocampal-dependent learning and memory). (LLM, conf=0.76)
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- Authors
- Kajs, B. L., Loewke, A. C., Dorsch, J. M., Vinson, L. T., & Gunaydin, L. A.
- Affiliations
- University of California, San Francisco (US)
- Corresponding author
- Gunaydin, Lisa A.
- Venue
- Scientific Reports
- Published
- 2022-06-24
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 10731-10731
- ISSN
- 2045-2322 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9232563
- OpenAlex
- W4283380446
- Cited by
- 17
- References
- 83
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 3
- FWCI
- 1.68
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Scientific Reports (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Chan Zuckerberg Biohub
- Kavli Institute for Fundamental Neuroscience
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
- Keywords
- dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, dorsomedial striatum, basolateral amygdala, corticostriatal projections, avoidance learning, conditioned stimulus, sex differences, anxiety disorders
- MeSH terms
- Amygdala, Animals, Avoidance Learning, Conditioning, Operant, Female, Male, Prefrontal Cortex, Mice, Basolateral Nuclear Complex
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