A major psychosocial stress circuit Psychological stress induces various physiological responses by activating the sympathetic nervous system. The brain circuits involved in these functions are still not completely understood. In a rat model, Kataoka et al. combined anatomical tracing, immediate early gene expression analysis, pharmacology, optogenetics, electrophysiology, and genetic cell ablation to provide evidence for the prominent role of a ventral part of the medial prefrontal cortex in sympathetic responses to social defeat stress. This brain region sends excitatory projections to the dorsomedial hypothalamus as a central coordinator of the psychosocial stress responses. This pathway is crucial for understanding how psychosocial stress influences a variety of body functions. Science, this issue p. 1105 A neural pathway from the forebrain to the hypothalamus drives a variety of stress responses. The mechanism by which psychological stress elicits various physiological responses is unknown. We discovered a central master neural pathway in rats that drives autonomic and behavioral stress responses by connecting the corticolimbic stress circuits to the hypothalamus. Psychosocial stress signals from emotion-related forebrain regions activated a VGLUT1-positive glutamatergic pathway from the dorsal peduncular cortex and dorsal tenia tecta (DP/DTT), an unexplored prefrontal cortical area, to the dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH), a hypothalamic autonomic center. Genetic ablation and optogenetics revealed that the DP/DTT→DMH pathway drives thermogenic, hyperthermic, and cardiovascular sympathetic responses to psychosocial stress without contributing to basal homeostasis. This pathway also mediates avoidance behavior from psychosocial stressors. Given the variety of stress responses driven by the DP/DTT→DMH pathway, the DP/DTT can be a potential target for treating psychosomatic disorders.

中文翻译：

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大鼠心理社会应激反应的主要驱动力

一个主要的社会心理压力回路 心理压力通过激活交感神经系统诱发各种生理反应。参与这些功能的大脑回路仍未完全了解。在大鼠模型中，Kataoka 等人。结合解剖学追踪、即时早期基因表达分析、药理学、光遗传学、电生理学和遗传细胞消融，为内侧前额叶皮层的腹侧部分在对社会失败压力的交感神经反应中的突出作用提供证据。这个大脑区域将兴奋性投射发送到背内侧下丘脑，作为社会心理压力反应的中央协调器。该途径对于了解社会心理压力如何影响各种身体功能至关重要。科学，这个问题 p。1105 从前脑到下丘脑的神经通路驱动着各种压力反应。心理压力引发各种生理反应的机制尚不清楚。我们在大鼠中发现了一条中央主神经通路，它通过将皮质边缘应激回路连接到下丘脑来驱动自主神经和行为应激反应。来自情绪相关前脑区域的社会心理压力信号激活了一条 VGLUT1 阳性谷氨酸能通路，从背脚皮层和背侧腱盖 (DP/DTT)，一个未探索的前额叶皮层区域，到背内侧下丘脑 (DMH)，一个下丘脑自主中心。基因消融和光遗传学表明，DP/DTT→DMH 途径驱动产热、高热、和心血管交感神经对社会心理压力的反应，而不有助于基础稳态。该途径还介导了来自社会心理压力源的回避行为。鉴于由 DP/DTT→DMH 途径驱动的各种压力反应，DP/DTT 可以成为治疗心身障碍的潜在目标。