Browsing by Author "Takatoh, Jun"

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    Capturing and Manipulating Activated Neuronal Ensembles with CANE Delineates a Hypothalamic Social-Fear Circuit
    (Neuron, 2016-11-23) Sakurai, Katsuyasu; Zhao, Shengli; Takatoh, Jun; Rodriguez, Erica; Lu, Jinghao; Leavitt, Andrew D; Fu, Min; Han, Bao-Xia; Wang, Fan
    © 2016 Elsevier Inc.We developed a technology (capturing activated neuronal ensembles [CANE]) to label, manipulate, and transsynaptically trace neural circuits that are transiently activated in behavioral contexts with high efficiency and temporal precision. CANE consists of a knockin mouse and engineered viruses designed to specifically infect activated neurons. Using CANE, we selectively labeled neurons that were activated by either fearful or aggressive social encounters in a hypothalamic subnucleus previously known as a locus for aggression, and discovered that social-fear and aggression neurons are intermixed but largely distinct. Optogenetic stimulation of CANE-captured social-fear neurons (SFNs) is sufficient to evoke fear-like behaviors in normal social contexts, whereas silencing SFNs resulted in reduced social avoidance. CANE-based mapping of axonal projections and presynaptic inputs to SFNs further revealed a highly distributed and recurrent neural network. CANE is a broadly applicable technology for dissecting causality and connectivity of spatially intermingled but functionally distinct ensembles.
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    Inhibition, Not Excitation, Drives Rhythmic Whisking.
    (Neuron, 2016-04-20) Deschênes, Martin; Takatoh, Jun; Kurnikova, Anastasia; Moore, Jeffrey D; Demers, Maxime; Elbaz, Michael; Furuta, Takahiro; Wang, Fan; Kleinfeld, David
    Sniffing and whisking typify the exploratory behavior of rodents. These actions involve separate oscillators in the medulla, located respectively in the pre-Bötzinger complex (preBötC) and the vibrissa-related region of the intermediate reticular formation (vIRt). We examine how these oscillators synergize to control sniffing and whisking. We find that the vIRt contains glycinergic/GABAergic cells that rhythmically inhibit vibrissa facial motoneurons. As a basis for the entrainment of whisking by breathing, but not vice versa, we provide evidence for unidirectional connections from the preBötC to the vIRt. The preBötC further contributes to the control of the mystacial pad. Lastly, we show that bilateral synchrony of whisking relies on the respiratory rhythm, consistent with commissural connections between preBötC cells. These data yield a putative circuit in which the preBötC acts as a master clock for the synchronization of vibrissa, pad, and snout movements, as well as for the bilateral synchronization of whisking.