The role of the ventrolateral caudoputamen in predatory hunting

Abstract

The ventrolateral caudoputamen (VLCP) is well known to participate in the control of orofacial movements and forepaw usage accompanying feeding behavior. Previous studies from our laboratory have shown that insect hunting is associated with a distinct Fos up-regulation in the VLCP at intermediate rostro-caudal levels. Moreover, using the reversible blockade with lidocaine, we have previously suggested that the VLCP implements the stereotyped actions seen during prey capture and handling, and may influence the motivational drive to start attacking the roaches, as well. However, considering that (1) lidocaine suppresses action potentials not only in neurons, but also in fibers-of-passage, rendering the observed behavioral effect not specific to the ventrolateral caudoputamen; (2) the short lidocaine-induced inactivation period had left a relatively narrow window to observe the behavioral changes; and (3) that the restriction stress to inject the drug could have also disturbed hunting behavior, in the present study, we have examined the role of the VLCP in predatory hunting by placing bilateral NMDA lesions three weeks previous to the behavior testing. We were able to confirm that the VLCP serves to implement the stereotyped sequence of actions seen during prey capture and handling, but the study did not confirm its role in influencing the motivational drive to hunt. Together with other studies from our group, the present work serves as an important piece of information that helps to reveal the neural systems underlying predatory hunting.

The mouse cortico-striatal projectome

“…This is congruent with studies that demonstrate the role of the dorsolateral CP in habitual behaviors 8 , 9 . Lesions of the ventrolateral CP, which corresponds roughly to the mouth region in this report, disrupt implementation of stereotyped action sequences exhibited during predatory hunting including handling and biting 38 . Together, these data suggest that the subregions of the lateral CP are involved in the implementation of stereotyped behaviors involving their corresponding body regions (i.e., trunk for grooming, mouth and upper limb for handling and eating).…”

“…However, the ventral edge comprised of the CPi.vm.v, CPi.vl.vt, and CPc.v receives somatomotor information pertaining to mouth, and input from rostral VISC and GU. Thus, this ventral edge is in a strategic position to integrate visceral, gustatory, olfactory, and somatic information to regulate orofaciopharyngeal movements associated with feeding behavior or stereotyped motor sequences for predatory eating 37 , 38 ( Fig. 7a,c ).…”

Distinct roles for motor cortical and thalamic inputs to striatum during motor learning and execution

“…It is widely assumed that this subcortical pathway is involved in initiating 1,[12][13][14]114,117 and modulating [118][119][120][121][122] innate behaviors, such as locomotion, grooming, hunting and feeding 120,[123][124][125] through selective and graded disinhibition of its downstream targets. Our results suggest that the utility of this BG pathway can be extended to generate novel task-specific motor sequences -a process that may require a motor cortex-dependent reprogramming of subcortical motor circuits.…”

Acute Lipopolysaccharide Switches the Selection of Maternal Behavior to Predatory Behavior in Female Rats

“…Plasma samples for each animal were aliquoted in several conical tubes for conducting separate analyses of TNF-α and corticosterone using commercial enzymelinked immunosorbent assay kits in duplicate according to the manufacturer's instructions. TNF-α is produced and released after LPS administration and is a biomarker of sickness behavior [20][21][22] . TNF-α was quantified using the DuoSet kit (catalog no.…”

“…In this paradigm, roaches are used as prey because they are relatively innocuous and easily overcome by rats. Indeed, rats display an innate pattern of prey hunting that is similar to small insectivores [20] .…”