The study revealed the neural circuit basis of the innate fear for natural enemy odor in mice, and was published online in Nature Neuroscience on January 4, 2016. It discovered in the mouse brain that the pathway from LHb (lateral habenula) to LDT (dorsolateral tegmental area) plays a decisive role in the innate fear for natural enemy smell through optogenetics, animal behavior, and virus reverse tracking techniques. The two types of inhibitory neurons (PV-positive and SOM-positive) in LDT have completely opposite regulatory functions for the fear responses. These new discoveries provide new potential targets for the treatment of fear-induced anxiety and depression.
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