Elevated prelimbic cortex-to-basolateral amygdala circuit activity mediates comorbid anxiety-like behaviors associated with chronic pain

PL (Prelimbic area) MBA:972 projects to PAG (Periaqueductal gray) MBA:795 · Mouse

Retrograde AAV2/R carrying mCherry injected into the lateral/ventrolateral PAG labelled CaMKIIα-positive PrL neurons, almost all of them in layer 5 and distinct from the BLA-projecting population.

Fig. 1A–C; Supplemental Fig. 1A–G

Made by an AI model reading the paper (claude-opus-5, extract@0.3.0); a second AI model (claude-opus-5) agrees.

PL (Prelimbic area) MBA:972 functionally connects to BLA (Basolateral amygdalar nucleus) MBA:295 · Mouse

Blue-light stimulation of ChR2-expressing PrL axon terminals in the BLA evoked short-latency EPSCs in BLA neurons that were abolished by TTX and restored by 4-AP, indicating a monosynaptic excitatory input; conversely, yellow-light activation of NpHR in the same terminals lowered the frequency of spontaneous EPSCs in BLA neurons without altering spontaneous IPSCs.

Supplemental Fig. 3E–H; Supplemental Fig. 4D–N

Made by an AI model reading the paper (claude-opus-5, extract@0.3.0); a second AI model (claude-opus-5) agrees.

PL (Prelimbic area) MBA:972 projects to BLA (Basolateral amygdalar nucleus) MBA:295 · Mouse

A retrograde AAV2/R expressing eGFP under a CaMKIIα promoter was injected into the BLA and labelled excitatory neurons in the PrL, most of which were CaMKIIα-positive; the labelled cells lay mainly in layer 2/3 and were largely separate from PAG-projecting cells.

Fig. 1A–C; Supplemental Fig. 1A–G

Made by an AI model reading the paper (claude-opus-5, extract@0.3.0); a second AI model (claude-opus-5) agrees.

PL (Prelimbic area) MBA:972 functionally connects to PAG (Periaqueductal gray) MBA:795 · Mouse

A single blue light pulse applied to ChR2-expressing PrL terminals in the lateral/ventrolateral PAG evoked an EPSC in PAG neurons; the response was blocked by TTX and recovered with 4-AP, consistent with a monosynaptic excitatory projection.

Supplemental Fig. 6B–D

Made by an AI model reading the paper (claude-opus-5, extract@0.3.0); a second AI model (claude-opus-5) agrees.

PL (Prelimbic area) MBA:972 projects to PAG (Periaqueductal gray) MBA:795 · Mouse

After injecting an AAV expressing mCherry into the PrL, the authors saw extensive labelled axonal fibers in the lateral/ventrolateral PAG.

Supplemental Fig. 6A

Made by an AI model reading the paper (claude-opus-5, extract@0.3.0); a second AI model (claude-opus-5) agrees.