Prefrontal Control of Innate Escape Behavior – A Neural Mechanism of Enhanced Posttraumatic Threat Detection

Innate defensive responses, while primarily instinctive, must also be flexible and highly adaptive to changes in risk assessment. As such, efficient innate escape behavior requires intricate processing to minimize reaction time while maximizing the success and adaptivity of the action. The superior colliculus (SC) is a subcortical sensorimotor integration center linking sensory threat information and escape. Adaptive changes in innate escape after learning could take a maladaptive turn after severe stress. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with long-term maladaptive changes after exposure to traumatic events, related to enhanced threat detection and reaction. Such long-term modifications are thought to involve the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), which is implicated in integrating learned emotional values into decisions that drive actions and behaviors. Here, in a series of experiments, we establish the crucial physiological role of specific mPFC neurons, exerting influence on the SC both directly and indirectly through the basal ganglia, in threat detection and reaction after adversity.