title: Effective Modulation of Male Aggression through Lateral Septum to Medial Hypothalamus Projection.
abstract: Aggression is a prevalent behavior in the animal kingdom that is used to settle competition for limited resources. Given the high risk associated with fighting, the central nervous system has evolved an active mechanism to modulate its expression. Lesioning the lateral septum (LS) is known to cause "septal rage," a phenotype characterized by a dramatic increase in the frequency of attacks. To understand the circuit mechanism of LS-mediated modulation of aggression, we examined the influence of LS input on the cells in and around the ventrolateral part of the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMHvl)-a region required for male mouse aggression. We found that the inputs from the LS inhibited the attack-excited cells but surprisingly increased the overall activity of attack-inhibited cells. Furthermore, optogenetic activation of the projection from LS cells to the VMHvl terminated ongoing attacks immediately but had little effect on mounting. Thus, LS projection to the ventromedial hypothalamic area represents an effective pathway for suppressing male aggression.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
authors.forename: Li Chin
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA; Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine and Department of Otolaryngology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: D'Amour
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
authors.forename: Tomohiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yumita
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
authors.forename: Genghe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
authors.forename: Brian C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA; Department of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA; The Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY 10962, USA.
authors.forename: Hannah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bernstein
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
authors.forename: Xuedi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: You
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
authors.forename: James E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA; Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine and Department of Otolaryngology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA; Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA.
authors.forename: Robert C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Froemke
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA; Department of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA; Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA. Electronic address: dayu.lin@nyumc.org.
authors.forename: Dayu
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000374:Aggression; D000818:Animals; D007033:Hypothalamus, Middle / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D062308:Optogenetics; D012686:Septal Nuclei / Q000502:physiology*; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal