PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Joseph Dwyer
AU  - Diane A. Kelly
AU  - Joseph Bergan
TI  - Brain-Wide Synaptic Inputs to Aromatase-Expressing Neurons in the Medial Amygdala Suggest Complex Circuitry for Modulating Social Behavior
AID  - 10.1523/ENEURO.0329-21.2021
DP  - 2022 Mar 01
TA  - eneuro
PG  - ENEURO.0329-21.2021
VI  - 9
IP  - 2
4099  - http://www.eneuro.org/content/9/2/ENEURO.0329-21.2021.short
4100  - http://www.eneuro.org/content/9/2/ENEURO.0329-21.2021.full
SO  - eNeuro2022 Mar 01; 9
AB  - Here, we reveal an unbiased view of the brain regions that provide specific inputs to aromatase-expressing cells in the medial amygdala, neurons that play an outsized role in the production of sex-specific social behaviors, using rabies tracing and light sheet microscopy. While the downstream projections from these cells are known, the specific inputs to the aromatase-expressing cells in the medial amygdala remained unknown. We observed established connections to the medial amygdala (e.g., bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and accessory olfactory bulb) indicating that aromatase neurons are a major target cell type for efferent input including from regions associated with parenting and aggression. We also identified novel and unexpected inputs from areas involved in metabolism, fear and anxiety, and memory and cognition. These results confirm the central role of the medial amygdala in sex-specific social recognition and social behavior, and point to an expanded role for its aromatase-expressing neurons in the integration of multiple sensory and homeostatic factors, which are likely used to modulate many other social behaviors.