Cell reportsOct 5, 2021

Different pathways from a visual brain area control defensive reactions to sights

Updated Jan 28, 2026

Abstract

The ventral lateral geniculate nucleus (vLGN) is a critical node in controlling defensive behaviors to visual threats.

vLGN neuron activity scales with the intensity of environmental illumination and is influenced by behavioral state.
Chemogenetic activation of vLGN neurons reduces freezing behavior in response to visual threats.
Inactivation of vLGN neurons significantly prolongs freezing duration when exposed to visual threats.
Disrupting vLGN activity affects exploration behavior in brightly illuminated environments.
Two distinct circuits from vLGN—one to the nucleus reuniens and another to the superior colliculus—have opposing effects on defensive responses.

Simplified

Rapid alternations between exploration and defensive reactions require ongoing risk assessment. How visual cues and internal states flexibly modulate the selection of behaviors remains incompletely understood. Here, we show that the ventral lateral geniculate nucleus (vLGN)-a major retinorecipient structure-is a critical node in the network controlling defensive behaviors to visual threats. We find that vLGNneuron activity scales with the intensity of environmental illumination and is modulated by behavioral state. Chemogenetic activation of vLGNneurons reduces freezing, whereas inactivation dramatically extends the duration of freezing to visual threats. Perturbations of vLGN activity disrupt exploration in brightly illuminated environments. We describe both a vLGN→nucleus reuniens (Re) circuit and a vLGN→superior colliculus (SC) circuit, which exert opposite influences on defensive responses. These findings reveal roles for genetic- and projection-defined vLGN subpopulations in modulating the expression of behavioral threat responses according to internal state. GABA GABA

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Abstract

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