WIKIMEDIA, RAMAAnimals respond to fear in predictable ways. A mouse confronted with danger is likely to either freeze in place or run for its life. But how this primal response is elicited in the brain has remained murky. A study in mice published in Science today (June 25) reveals specific neuronal wiring that runs between the eye and the amygdala—the emotion and decision-making center of the brain—that translates the sight of an advancing threat to the animal’s instinct to freeze or flee.
“One of the big challenges in neuroscience is to understand the relationship between molecules, cells, [and] synapses on one hand, and microcircuit function and behavior on the other,” said neuroscientist Peter Jonas of the Institute of Science and Technology in Klosterneuburg, Austria, who was not involved in the work. “It is nice to bridge these different levels and . . . this paper provides a nice example of how this is becoming possible.”
Fear behavior is critical for survival, and animals and humans use all their sensory inputs to detect, assess, and escape from life-threatening situations. In the case of visual threats, researchers have identified cells in the retina that respond to looming objects. Then, in the midbrain, a structure called the superior colliculus, which ...
