小柯机器人

德国埃尔朗根-纽伦堡大学Alexey Ponomarenko等研究人员合作发现，前额叶-下丘脑-中脑回路的动态状态指挥行为转换。2024年3月18日，国际知名学术期刊《自然—神经科学》在线发表了这一成果。

研究人员发现在行为转换过程中，外侧下丘脑（LH）中活跃于β振荡峰附近的神经元群的特定特征编码了可能即将发生的行为。在这一阶段通过光遗传招募下丘脑内抑制可消除行为转换。研究表明，转换是由来自前额叶皮层的β节律输入引起的，这些输入自发地与编码多种行为的下丘脑"转换细胞"同步。

在LH的下游，多巴胺神经元在β振荡期间增加发射，也编码行为转换。因此，下丘脑转换状态是未来行为的备选信号，编码最有可能被选择的行为，并与认知和奖赏处理回路迅速协调，指挥适应性的社会接触和进食行为。

据了解，与生俱来的行为以序列顺序适应性地满足多种需求，这表明存在一种迄今难以捉摸的大脑动态，它在行为选择过程中汇集了即将发生的行为的表征。

附：英文原文

Title: The dynamic state of a prefrontal–hypothalamic–midbrain circuit commands behavioral transitions

Author: Chen, Changwan, Altafi, Mahsa, Corbu, Mihaela-Anca, Trenk, Aleksandra, van den Munkhof, Hanna, Weineck, Kristin, Bender, Franziska, Carus-Cadavieco, Marta, Bakhareva, Alisa, Korotkova, Tatiana, Ponomarenko, Alexey

Issue&Volume: 2024-03-18

Abstract: Innate behaviors meet multiple needs adaptively and in a serial order, suggesting the existence of a hitherto elusive brain dynamics that brings together representations of upcoming behaviors during their selection. Here we show that during behavioral transitions, possible upcoming behaviors are encoded by specific signatures of neuronal populations in the lateral hypothalamus (LH) that are active near beta oscillation peaks. Optogenetic recruitment of intrahypothalamic inhibition at this phase eliminates behavioral transitions. We show that transitions are elicited by beta-rhythmic inputs from the prefrontal cortex that spontaneously synchronize with LH ‘transition cells’ encoding multiple behaviors. Downstream of the LH, dopamine neurons increase firing during beta oscillations and also encode behavioral transitions. Thus, a hypothalamic transition state signals alternative future behaviors, encodes the one most likely to be selected and enables rapid coordination with cognitive and reward-processing circuitries, commanding adaptive social contact and eating behaviors.

DOI: 10.1038/s41593-024-01598-3

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-024-01598-3

Nature Neuroscience：《自然—神经科学》，创刊于1998年。隶属于施普林格·自然出版集团，最新IF：28.771
官方网址：https://www.nature.com/neuro/
投稿链接：https://mts-nn.nature.com/cgi-bin/main.plex