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Brain‐wide mapping of presynaptic inputs to basolateral amygdala neurons
Author(s) -
Morikawa Shota,
Katori Kazuki,
Takeuchi Haruki,
Ikegaya Yuji
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of comparative neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.855
H-Index - 209
eISSN - 1096-9861
pISSN - 0021-9967
DOI - 10.1002/cne.25149
Subject(s) - neuroscience , basolateral amygdala , biology , amygdala , sensory system , projection (relational algebra) , thalamus , computer science , algorithm
The basolateral amygdala (BLA), a region critical for emotional processing, is the limbic hub that is connected with various brain regions. BLA neurons are classified into different subtypes that exhibit differential projection patterns and mediate distinct emotional behaviors; however, little is known about their presynaptic input patterns. In this study, we employed projection‐specific monosynaptic rabies virus tracing to identify the direct monosynaptic inputs to BLA subtypes. We found that each neuronal subtype receives long‐range projection input from specific brain regions. In contrast to their specific axonal projection patterns, all BLA neuronal subtypes exhibited relatively similar input patterns. This anatomical organization supports the idea that the BLA is a central integrator that associates sensory information in different modalities with valence and sends associative information to behaviorally relevant brain regions.