Brain–body interactions are thought to be essential in emotions but their physiological basis remains poorly understood. In mice, regular 4 Hz breathing appears during freezing after cue-fear conditioning. Here we show that the olfactory bulb (OB) transmits this rhythm to the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) where it organizes neural activity. Reduction of the respiratory-related 4 Hz oscillation, via bulbectomy or optogenetic perturbation of the OB, reduces freezing. Behavioural modelling shows that this is due to a specific reduction in freezing maintenance without impacting its initiation, thus dissociating these two phenomena. dmPFC LFP and firing patterns support the region’s specific function in freezing maintenance. In particular, population analysis reveals that network activity tracks 4 Hz power dynamics during freezing and reaches a stable state at 4 Hz peak that lasts until freezing termination. These results provide a potential mechanism and a functional role for bodily feedback in emotions and therefore shed light on the historical James–Cannon debate.

大脑与身体的相互作用被认为对于情绪至关重要，但其生理基础仍然知之甚少。在小鼠中，在提示恐惧调节后的冻结过程中会出现规律的 4 Hz 呼吸。在这里，我们展示了嗅球（OB）将这种节奏传递到背内侧前额叶皮层（dmPFC），在那里它组织神经活动。通过球茎切除术或 OB 的光遗传学扰动减少与呼吸相关的 4 Hz 振荡，从而减少冻结。行为模型表明，这是由于冻结维持的特定减少而不影响其启动，从而将这两种现象分开。dmPFC LFP 和激发模式支持该区域在冻结维护方面的特定功能。特别是，总体分析表明，网络活动在冻结期间跟踪 4 Hz 功率动态，并在 4 Hz 峰值处达到稳定状态，并持续到冻结终止。这些结果为情绪中的身体反馈提供了潜在的机制和功能作用，因此为历史上詹姆斯-坎农的争论提供了线索。