A limbic circuitry involved in emotional stress-induced grooming

Ming-Dao Mu, Hong-Yan Geng, Kang-Lin Rong, Rong-Chao Peng, Shu-Ting Wang, Lin-Ting Geng, Zhong-Ming Qian (), Wing-Ho Yung () and Ya Ke ()
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Ming-Dao Mu: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT
Hong-Yan Geng: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT
Kang-Lin Rong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT
Rong-Chao Peng: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT
Shu-Ting Wang: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT
Lin-Ting Geng: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT
Zhong-Ming Qian: Fudan University
Wing-Ho Yung: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT
Ya Ke: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: Abstract Prolonged exposure to negative stressors could be harmful if a subject cannot respond appropriately. Strategies evolved to respond to stress, including repetitive displacement behaviours, are important in maintaining behavioural homoeostasis. In rodents, self-grooming is a frequently observed repetitive behaviour believed to contribute to post-stress de-arousal with adaptive value. Here we identified a rat limbic di-synaptic circuit that regulates stress-induced self-grooming with positive affective valence. This circuit links hippocampal ventral subiculum to ventral lateral septum (LSv) and then lateral hypothalamus tuberal nucleus. Optogenetic activation of this circuit triggers delayed but robust excessive grooming with patterns closely resembling those evoked by emotional stress. Consistently, the neural activity of LSv reaches a peak before emotional stress-induced grooming while inhibition of this circuit significantly suppresses grooming triggered by emotional stress. Our results uncover a previously unknown limbic circuitry involved in regulating stress-induced self-grooming and pinpoint a critical role of LSv in this ethologically important behaviour.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-16203-x

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