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About this conversation
Circuit tracing and electrophysiology identify a sex-specific hypothalamic-to-amygdala pathway that contributes to male-biased aggression.
We thank Dr. Zhenggang Zhu for sharing the research, the thinking behind the discovery, and the challenges and decisions that shaped the work with the Biolà community.
PAPERS & REFERENCES
NeuronEVENT MATERIALS
On August 19, 2024, at 12:00 AM Beijing Time, Biola hosted the 2nd issue of the Bioneer First-Author Forum, featuring Dr. Zhenggang Zhu, a Sanford Fellow at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Zhu presented “A Hypothalamic-Amygdala Circuit Underlying Sexually Dimorphic Aggression,” a study conducted during his PhD training under Professor Shumin Duan at Zhejiang University and published in Neuron in 2024.
The study investigated the neural circuit mechanisms underlying sex differences in aggressive behavior. Using neural circuit tracing, electrophysiological recording, and related approaches in mice, the authors identified a pathway from the ventrolateral subdivision of the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMHvl) to the posterior substantia innominata (pSI). Compared with females, male mice exhibited stronger excitatory and weaker inhibitory VMHvl-to-pSI projections, revealing a sex-specific circuit mechanism that contributes to male-biased aggression.
We sincerely thank Dr. Zhenggang Zhu for sharing both the scientific findings and the research journey behind this work with the Biola community, and for the thoughtful discussion with our members.
Citation: Zhu, Z., et al. (2024). A hypothalamic-amygdala circuit underlying sexually dimorphic aggression. Neuron, 112(18), 3176–3191.e7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2024.06.022