Preemptive Stimulation of AgRP Neurons in Fed Mice Enables Conditioned Food Seeking under Threat

摘要: Summary The decision to engage in food-seeking behavior depends not only on homeostatic signals related energy balance [1] but also the presence of competing motivational drives [2] and learned cues signaling food availability [3]. Agouti-related peptide (AgRP) neurons arcuate nucleus hypothalamus are critical for feeding behavior. Selective ablation or silencing AgRP causes anorexia [4, 5], whereas selective stimulation fed mice promotes learned instrumental actions obtain reward [5–8]. However, it remains unknown whether neuron stimulation is sufficient drive continued a drive, such as threat avoidance, can discrimination between sensory associated with other outcomes. Here we trained perform task involving appetitive aversive visual cues. Food-restricted exhibited operant responding food-predicting largely failed avoid cued shocks by moving onto safety platform. opposite was true following re-feeding. Strikingly, neuron photostimulation did restore fed mice when initiated within threat-containing arena, home cage, prior arena entry. These data suggest that choice pursue certain behaviors others (e.g., seeking versus shock avoidance) depend temporal primacy one relative onset drive.