Zona incerta (ZI) is a largely inhibitory subthalamic region connecting with many brain areas. Early studies have suggested involvement of ZI in various functions such as visceral activities, arousal, attention, and locomotion, but the specific roles of different ZI subdomains or cell types have not been well examined. Recent studies combining optogenetics, behavioral assays, neural tracing, and neural activity-recording reveal novel functional roles of ZI depending on specific input-output connectivity patterns. Here, we review these studies and summarize functions of ZI into four categories: sensory integration, behavioral output control, motivational drive, and neural plasticity. In view of these new findings, we propose that ZI serves as an integrative node for global modulation of behaviors and physiological states.

中文翻译：

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Zona Incerta：全球行为调节的综合节点

未定带（ZI）是一个很大程度上抑制性的底丘脑区域，与许多大脑区域相连。早期研究表明 ZI 参与多种功能，如内脏活动、唤醒、注意力和运动，但不同 ZI 子域或细胞类型的具体作用尚未得到充分研究。最近结合光遗传学、行为分析、神经追踪和神经活动记录的研究揭示了 ZI 的新功能作用取决于特定的输入输出连接模式。在这里，我们回顾这些研究，并将 ZI 的功能总结为四类：感觉统合、行为输出控制、动机驱动和神经可塑性。鉴于这些新发现，我们建议 ZI 作为行为和生理状态全局调节的综合节点。