Genetically- and spatially-defined basolateral amygdala neurons control food consumption and social interaction
The basolateral amygdala (BLA) contains discrete neuronal circuits that integrate positive or negative emotional information and drive the appropriate innate and learned behaviors.  Whether how these circuits consist of genetically-identifiable and anatomically segregated neuron types, is currently poorly understood.  Also, our understanding of the response patterns and behavioral spectra of genetically-identifiable BLA neurons is limited. Here, we classified 11 glutamatergic BLA cell types having topography in BLA. Several clusters were enriched in lateral versus basal amygdala, others were enriched in either anterior or posterior regions of the BLA. Two of these BLA subpopulations innately responded to valence-specific stimuli, whereas one represented to both aversive and social cues. Positive-valence BLA neurons promoted normal feeding, while mixed selectivity neurons promoted fear learning and social interactions. These findings enhance our understanding of cell type diversity and spatial organization of the BLA and the role of distinct BLA populations in representing valence-specific and mixed stimuli. Overall design: Single-nucleus RNA sequencing was focused on the basolateral amygdala (BLA). For visually guided dissection of the BLA, we practiced by using the fluorescent expression in basal amygdala (BA) of Rspo2-cre; tdTomato mice 3 and dense fiber tracks surrounding BLA boundaries to facilitate complete microdissection of BLA. Each single nucleus sequencing dataset includes BLA tissues from 4 male brains (both hemispheres). To reduce potential batch effects, brains were always from the same litter, collected and processed in parallel at the same time.