Link to bioRxiv paper: http://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2020.04.22.047670v1?rss=1 Authors: Zhu, Z., Ma, Q., Yang, H., Miao, L., Pan, L., Li, K., Zhang, X., Wu, J., Hao, S., Lin, S., Ma, X., Hao, Y., Yu, Y.-q., Duan, S. Abstract: Animals display various aggressive behaviors essential for survival, while uncontrollable attacks and abnormal aggressive states have massive social costs. Neural circuits regulating specific forms of aggression under defined conditions have been described, but whether there are circuits governing a general aggressive state to promote diverse aggressive behaviors remains unknown. Here, we found that posterior substantia innominata (pSI) neurons responded to multiple aggression-provoking cues with graded activity of differential dynamics, predicting the aggressive state and the topography of aggression in mice. Activation of pSI neurons projecting to the periaqueductal gray (PAG) increased aggressive arousal and robustly initiated/promoted all the types of aggressive behavior examined in an activity level-dependent manner. Inactivation of the pSI circuit largely blocked diverse aggressive behaviors, but not mating. By encoding a general aggressive state, the pSI-PAG circuit universally drives multiple aggressive behaviors and thus may provide a potential target for alleviating human pathological aggression. Copy rights belong to original authors. Visit the link for more info