Prepronociceptin-expressing neurons in the extended amygdala signal darting away from an aversive odor

Dysregulation in the neural circuitry that encodes physiological arousal responses is thought to contribute to the manifestation of the maladaptive behaviors observed in neuropsychiatric disorders. We previously found that prepronociceptin -expressing neurons in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis ( Pnoc BNST neurons) modulate rapid changes in physiological arousal upon presentation of motivationally salient stimuli ([Rodriguez-Romaguera et al., 2020][1]). However, whether Pnoc BNST neurons are necessary to regulate behavioral actions to motivationally salient stimuli is still unknown. Here, we investigated the role of Pnoc BNST neurons in encoding behavioral responses to motivationally salient stimuli using in vivo calcium imaging and optogenetic approaches in freely behaving mice. We find that the bulk activity of Pnoc BNST neurons increases when mice are near an aversive odor in comparison to a rewarding odor. However, optogenetic inhibition of Pnoc BNST neurons does not affect the amount of time mice spend near an aversive odor. Further analysis revealed that a subgroup of Pnoc BNST neurons that correlate with proximity to the aversive odor also correlate to darting away from the same aversive odor. Since these two behaviors are opposite to each other and since we previously found Pnoc BNST neurons correlate with arousal responses, we believe these results may be due in part to the encoding of arousal responses that occur when mice approach and dart away from aversive stimuli. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. [1]: #ref-21