title: Agouti-related peptide neural circuits mediate adaptive behaviors in the starved state.
abstract: In the face of starvation, animals will engage in high-risk behaviors that would normally be considered maladaptive. Starving rodents, for example, will forage in areas that are more susceptible to predators and will also modulate aggressive behavior within a territory of limited or depleted nutrients. The neural basis of these adaptive behaviors likely involves circuits that link innate feeding, aggression and fear. Hypothalamic agouti-related peptide (AgRP)-expressing neurons are critically important for driving feeding and project axons to brain regions implicated in aggression and fear. Using circuit-mapping techniques in mice, we define a disynaptic network originating from a subset of AgRP neurons that project to the medial nucleus of the amygdala and then to the principal bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, which suppresses territorial aggression and reduces contextual fear. We propose that AgRP neurons serve as a master switch capable of coordinating behavioral decisions relative to internal state and environmental cues.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
authors.forename: Stephanie L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Padilla
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon, USA.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Department of Pharmacology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
authors.forename: Marta E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Soden
authors.affiliation: Institut de Neurociències and Departament de Biologia Cel·lular, Fisiologia i Immunologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Elisenda
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sanz
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon, USA.
authors.forename: Casey C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Nestor
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
authors.forename: Forrest D
authors.initials: FD
authors.lastname: Barker
authors.affiliation: Institut de Neurociències and Departament de Biologia Cel·lular, Fisiologia i Immunologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Albert
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1674-7160
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Quintana
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Department of Pharmacology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
authors.forename: Larry S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Zweifel
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon, USA.|Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health &Science University, Beaverton, Oregon, USA.
authors.forename: Oline K
authors.initials: OK
authors.lastname: Rønnekleiv
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon, USA.|Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health &Science University, Beaverton, Oregon, USA.
authors.forename: Martin J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
authors.forename: Richard D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Palmiter
mesh_terms: D000374:Aggression / Q000502:physiology*; D054369:Agouti-Related Protein / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D000679:Amygdala / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D005239:Fear / Q000502:physiology*; D055879:Gene Knock-In Techniques; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D012686:Septal Nuclei / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D013217:Starvation / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D054369:Agouti-Related Protein; D010446:Peptide Fragments; C412618:agouti-related peptide, (Yc(CRFFNAFC)Y)