“Neural circuits for valence coding, emotional states, and motivated behaviors”

Join the UCI Center for Neural Circuit Mapping in a hybrid seminar featuring Dr. Li Zhang of USC Medical School.

Abstract:

The topic is about our recent studies on neural circuits in the medial preoptic area (MPOA) of the hypothalamus. MPOA plays a critical role in parental and prosocial behaviors via subpopulations of its GABAergic neurons. We now show that MPOA can be more generally viewed to serve as a critical hub to mediate both negative and positive emotional states and related behaviors through its glutamatergic and GABAergic neurons, respectively, with the former encoding extremely negative valence and mediating anxiety-like behaviors, and the latter, oppositely, encoding positive valence and producing rewarding effects.  I will discuss the circuitry underlying how MPOA coordinately and antagonistically mediates behaviors related to different emotional states.