Ventromedial prefrontal neurons represent self-states shaped by vicarious fear in male mice

Ziyan Huang, Myung Chung, Kentaro Tao, Akiyuki Watarai, Mu-Yun Wang, Hiroh Ito and Teruhiro Okuyama ()
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Ziyan Huang: The University of Tokyo
Myung Chung: The University of Tokyo
Kentaro Tao: The University of Tokyo
Akiyuki Watarai: The University of Tokyo
Mu-Yun Wang: The University of Tokyo
Hiroh Ito: The University of Tokyo
Teruhiro Okuyama: The University of Tokyo

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: Abstract Perception of fear induced by others in danger elicits complex vicarious fear responses and behavioral outputs. In rodents, observing a conspecific receive aversive stimuli leads to escape and freezing behavior. It remains unclear how these behavioral self-states in response to others in fear are neurophysiologically represented. Here, we assess such representations in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), an essential site for empathy, in an observational fear (OF) paradigm in male mice. We classify the observer mouse’s stereotypic behaviors during OF using a machine-learning approach. Optogenetic inhibition of the vmPFC specifically disrupts OF-induced escape behavior. In vivo Ca2+ imaging reveals that vmPFC neural populations represent intermingled information of other- and self-states. Distinct subpopulations are activated and suppressed by others’ fear responses, simultaneously representing self-freezing states. This mixed selectivity requires inputs from the anterior cingulate cortex and the basolateral amygdala to regulate OF-induced escape behavior.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-39081-5

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