Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Article
  • Published:

A hypothalamic pathway that suppresses aggression toward superior opponents

Nature Neuroscience volume 26, pages 774–787 (2023)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Aggression is costly and requires tight regulation. Here we identify the projection from estrogen receptor alpha-expressing cells in the caudal part of the medial preoptic area (cMPOAEsr1) to the ventrolateral part of the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMHvl) as an essential pathway for modulating aggression in male mice. cMPOAEsr1 cells increase activity mainly during male–male interaction, which differs from the female-biased response pattern of rostral MPOAEsr1 (rMPOAEsr1) cells. Notably, cMPOAEsr1 cell responses to male opponents correlated with the opponents’ fighting capability, which mice could estimate based on physical traits or learn through physical combats. Inactivating the cMPOAEsr1–VMHvl pathway increased aggression, whereas activating the pathway suppressed natural intermale aggression. Thus, cMPOAEsr1 is a key population for encoding opponents’ fighting capability—information that could be used to prevent animals from engaging in disadvantageous conflicts with superior opponents by suppressing the activity of VMHvl cells essential for attack behaviors.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: rMOPAEsr1 and cMOPAEsr1 cells show differential responses during social behaviors.
Fig. 2: Male cMPOAEsr1 cells encode perceived RHP of a male opponent.
Fig. 3: cMPOAEsr1 cells bidirectionally modulate male aggression.
Fig. 4: MPOA cells primarily provide inhibitory inputs to VMHvl cells.
Fig. 5: cMPOAEsr1 cells negatively modulate VMHvlEsr1 cell activity.
Fig. 6: Optogenetic activation of cMPOAEsr1–VMHvl terminals suppresses aggression toward a weak male intruder.
Fig. 7: Optogenetic inactivation of cMPOAEsr1–VMHvl projection promotes attack in aggressive male mice.
Fig. 8: cMPOAEsr1–VMHvl inactivation promotes aggression toward stronger opponents.

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

Raw values associated with each figure panel can be found in the source data files. Fiber photometry recording data, behavior annotations and raw representative histology images can be downloaded from https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7700343. Behavior videos and additional histology images are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Source data are provided with this paper.

Code availability

MATALB code used in this study can be downloaded from https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7700343.

References

  1. Parker, G. A. Assessment strategy and the evolution of fighting behaviour. J. Theor. Biol. 47, 223–243 (1974).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Lischinsky, J. E. & Lin, D. Neural mechanisms of aggression across species. Nat. Neurosci. 23, 1317–1328 (2020).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Zha, X. & Xu, X.-H. Neural circuit mechanisms that govern inter-male attack in mice. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 78, 7289–7307 (2021).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Nelson, R. J. & Trainor, B. C. Neural mechanisms of aggression. Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 8, 536–546 (2007).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Hashikawa, K., Hashikawa, Y., Falkner, A. & Lin, D. The neural circuits of mating and fighting in male mice. Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 38, 27–37 (2016).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Lee, H. et al. Scalable control of mounting and attack by Esr1+ neurons in the ventromedial hypothalamus. Nature 509, 627–632 (2014).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Lin, D. et al. Functional identification of an aggression locus in the mouse hypothalamus. Nature 470, 221–226 (2011).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Yang, C. F. et al. Sexually dimorphic neurons in the ventromedial hypothalamus govern mating in both sexes and aggression in males. Cell 153, 896–909 (2013).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Falkner, A. L., Grosenick, L., Davidson, T. J., Deisseroth, K. & Lin, D. Hypothalamic control of male aggression-seeking behavior. Nat. Neurosci. 19, 596–604 (2016).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Yang, T. et al. Social control of hypothalamus-mediated male aggression. Neuron 95, 955–970 (2017).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Lo, L. et al. Connectional architecture of a mouse hypothalamic circuit node controlling social behavior. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 116, 7503–7512 (2019).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  12. Wei, Y.-C. et al. Medial preoptic area in mice is capable of mediating sexually dimorphic behaviors regardless of gender. Nat. Commun. 9, 1–15 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Fang, Y. Y., Yamaguchi, T., Song, S. C., Tritsch, N. X. & Lin, D. A hypothalamic midbrain pathway essential for driving maternal behaviors. Neuron 98, 192–207 (2018).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Karigo, T. et al. Distinct hypothalamic control of same- and opposite-sex mounting behaviour in mice. Nature 589, 258–263 (2021).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Bermond, B. Aggressive Behavior Vol. 8 (Wiley Online Library, 1982).

  16. Albert, D. J., Walsh, M. L., Gorzalka, B. B., Mendelson, S. & Zalys, C. Intermale social aggression: suppression by medial preoptic area lesions. Physiol. Behav. 38, 169–173 (1986).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Edwards, D. A., Nahai, F. R. & Wright, P. Pathways linking the olfactory bulbs with the medial preoptic anterior hypothalamus are important for intermale aggression in mice. Physiol. Behav. 53, 611–615 (1993).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Hammond, M. A. & Rowe, F. A. Medial preoptic and anterior hypothalamic lesions: Influences on aggressive behavior in female hamsters. Physiol. Behav. 17, 507–513 (1976).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Sano, K., Tsuda, M. C., Musatov, S., Sakamoto, T. & Ogawa, S. Differential effects of site-specific knockdown of estrogen receptor alpha in the medial amygdala, medial pre-optic area, and ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus on sexual and aggressive behavior of male mice Eur. J. Neurosci. 37, 1308–1319 (2013).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Veening, J. G. et al. Do similar neural systems subserve aggressive and sexual behaviour in male rats? Insights from c-Fos and pharmacological studies. Eur. J. Pharmacol. 526, 226–239 (2005).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Hashikawa, Y., Hashikawa, K., Falkner, A. L. & Lin, D. Ventromedial hypothalamus and the generation of aggression. Front. Syst. Neurosci. 11, 94 (2017).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  22. Knoedler, J. R. et al. A functional cellular framework for sex and estrous cycle-dependent gene expression and behavior. Cell 185, 654–671 e622 (2022).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  23. Kim, D. W. et al. Multimodal analysis of cell types in a hypothalamic node controlling social behavior. Cell 179, 713–728 (2019).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  24. Wong, L. C. et al. Effective modulation of male aggression through lateral septum to medial hypothalamus projection. Curr. Biol. 26, 593–604 (2016).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  25. Yin, L. et al. VMHvll(Cckar) cells dynamically control female sexual behaviors over the reproductive cycle. Neuron https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2022.06.026 (2022).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Mitra, S. W. et al. Immunolocalization of estrogen receptor beta in the mouse brain: comparison with estrogen receptor alpha. Endocrinology 144, 2055–2067 (2003).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Moffitt, J. R. et al. Molecular, spatial, and functional single-cell profiling of the hypothalamic preoptic region. Science 362, eaau5324 (2018).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  28. Tsuneoka, Y. et al. Functional, anatomical, and neurochemical differentiation of medial preoptic area subregions in relation to maternal behavior in the mouse. J. Comp. Neurol. 521, 1633–1663 (2013).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Simerly, R. B. & Swanson, L. W. The organization of neural inputs to the medial preoptic nucleus of the rat. J. Comp. Neurol. 246, 312–342 (1986).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Simerly, R. B. & Swanson, L. W. Projections of the medial preoptic nucleus: a Phaseolus vulgaris leucoagglutinin anterograde tract-tracing study in the rat. J. Comp. Neurol. 270, 209–242 (1988).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Stagkourakis, S. et al. A neural network for intermale aggression to establish social hierarchy. Nat. Neurosci. 21, 834–842 (2018).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Chen, A. X. et al. Specific hypothalamic neurons required for sensing conspecific male cues relevant to inter-male aggression. Neuron 108, 763–774 (2020).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Motta, S. C. et al. Ventral premammillary nucleus as a critical sensory relay to the maternal aggression network. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 110, 14438–14443 (2013).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  34. Soden, M. E. et al. Genetic isolation of hypothalamic neurons that regulate context-specific male social behavior. Cell Rep. 16, 304–313 (2016).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  35. Bayless, D. W. et al. Limbic neurons shape sex recognition and social behavior in sexually naive males. Cell 176, 1190–1205 (2019).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  36. Yang, B., Karigo, T. & Anderson, D. J. Transformations of neural representations in a social behaviour network. Nature 608, 741–749 (2022).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  37. Dong, H. W. & Swanson, L. W. Projections from bed nuclei of the stria terminalis, posterior division: implications for cerebral hemisphere regulation of defensive and reproductive behaviors. J. Comp. Neurol. 471, 396–433 (2004).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Newman, S. W. The medial extended amygdala in male reproductive behavior. A node in the mammalian social behavior network. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 877, 242–257 (1999).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Stagkourakis, S., Spigolon, G., Liu, G. & Anderson, D. J. Experience-dependent plasticity in an innate social behavior is mediated by hypothalamic LTP. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 117, 25789–25799 (2020).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  40. Harvey, S., Jemiolo, B. & Novotny, M. Pattern of volatile compounds in dominant and subordinate male mouse urine. J. Chem. Ecol. 15, 2061–2072 (1989).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Hilakivi‐Clarke, L. A. & Lister, R. G. Aggressive Behavior (Wiley Online Library, 1992).

  42. Diaz, V. & Lin, D. Neural circuits for coping with social defeat. Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 60, 99–107 (2020).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Kollack-Walker, S., Watson, S. & Akil, H. Social stress in hamsters: defeat activates specific neurocircuits within the brain. J. Neurosci. 17, 8842–8855 (1997).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  44. Motta, S. C. & Canteras, N. S. Restraint stress and social defeat: what they have in common. Physiol. Behav. 146, 105–110 (2015).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Lkhagvasuren, B. et al. Distribution of Fos-immunoreactive cells in rat forebrain and midbrain following social defeat stress and diazepam treatment. Neuroscience 272, 34–57 (2014).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. Remedios, R. et al. Social behaviour shapes hypothalamic neural ensemble representations of conspecific sex. Nature 550, 388–392 (2017).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  47. Nordman, J. C. et al. Potentiation of divergent medial amygdala pathways drives experience-dependent aggression escalation. J Neurosci. 40, 4858–4880 (2020).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  48. Vong, L. et al. Leptin action on GABAergic neurons prevents obesity and reduces inhibitory tone to POMC neurons. Neuron 71, 142–154 (2011).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  49. Madisen, L. et al. A robust and high-throughput Cre reporting and characterization system for the whole mouse brain. Nat. Neurosci. 13, 133–140 (2010).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  50. Mathis, A. et al. DeepLabCut: markerless pose estimation of user-defined body parts with deep learning. Nat. Neurosci. 21, 1281–1289 (2018).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. Hashikawa, K. et al. Esr1+ cells in the ventromedial hypothalamus control female aggression. Nat. Neurosci. 20, 1580–1590 (2017).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  52. Yamaguchi, T. et al. Posterior amygdala regulates sexual and aggressive behaviors in male mice. Nat. Neurosci. 23, 1111–1124 (2020).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  53. Wang, L. et al. Hypothalamic control of conspecific self-defense. Cell Rep. 26, 1747–1758 (2019).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  54. Falkner, A. L. et al. Hierarchical representations of aggression in a hypothalamic-midbrain circuit. Neuron 106, 637–648 (2020).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank L. Shan and C. Richter for help with behavior annotation, and L. Yin for providing some MATLAB codes for analysis. This research was supported by National Institutes of Health grants R01MH101377, R01MH124927, R01HD092596 and U19NS107616 (D.L.); the Mathers Foundation and the Vulnerable Brain Project (D.L.); the Uehara Memorial Foundation, JSPS Overseas Research Fellowship and Osamu Hayaishi Memorial Scholarship (T.O.); and the Sumitomo Foundation (T.Y.).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neuroscience Institute, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA

    Dongyu Wei, Takuya Osakada, Zhichao Guo, Takashi Yamaguchi, Avni Varshneya, Rongzhen Yan, Yiwen Jiang & Dayu Lin

  2. Department of Psychiatry, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA

    Dayu Lin

  3. Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, USA

    Dayu Lin

Authors
  1. Dongyu Wei
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Takuya Osakada
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Zhichao Guo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Takashi Yamaguchi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Avni Varshneya
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Rongzhen Yan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Yiwen Jiang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Dayu Lin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

D.L. conceived the project, designed experiments, analyzed data and wrote the paper. D.W. codesigned and performed most experiments, analyzed data, prepared figures and cowrote the paper. T.O. and T.Y. performed some tracing experiments. T.O. and Y.J. performed some behavior tests and animal tracking. Z.G. performed some photometry recordings. A.V. assisted with histology analysis and animal behavior training. R.Y. performed some behavior tests to quantify the RHP of animals with different genetic background.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dayu Lin.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

All authors declare no competing interests.

Peer review

Peer review information

Nature Neuroscience thanks Moriel Zelikowsky and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Extended data

Extended Data Fig. 1 cMPOA in males show higher aggressor cue-induced c-Fos after defeat.

(a), Schematic illustration of the experimental procedures. CCC: cup-cup-cup; DDC: defeat-defeat-cup. (b), Schematic illustration of the cup assay performed on the third day. (c), Percentage of time the animal spent in far zone, as illustrated in (b). (d), Percentage of time the animal spent on approaching and investigating the cupped aggressor. (e), Frequency of approach toward the cupped aggressor. (f), Representative images showing c-Fos expressing cells in rMPOA and cMPOA after CCC and DDC tests. Scale bar, 0.5 mm. (g), Quantification of c-Fos-positive cells in the rMPOA and cMPOA in CCC and DDC groups. Four sections were counted for each MPOA sub-region for each animal. All data are presented as mean ± s.e.m. (c–e), n = 4 mice for CCC group, and 5 mice for DDC group. (g), n = 4 mice per group. Two-tailed paired t-test; *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; Otherwise, P > 0.05.

Source data

Extended Data Fig. 2 RHP of each animal in pairs of male mice with different genetic backgrounds.

SW test males are single-housed, sexually experienced and with repeated winning experience. C57 test males are single-housed, sexually naive and with no or one-time winning experience. BC test males are group-housed, sexually naive and with no winning experience.

Extended Data Fig. 3 Inhibiting cMPOAEsr1 cells does not elicit aggression in non-aggressive male mice.

(a) Viral strategy for chemogenetic inhibition of cMPOAEsr1 cells in non-aggressive male mice. (b) A representative histology image (n = 4 mice) showing the expression of hM4Di-mchery in cMPOAEsr1 cells. Scale bar, 1 mm. (c) Experimental timeline. (d,f) hM4Di test male mice showed no attack toward a male intruder (d) or a female intruder (f) after saline or CNO injection. (e,g) Investigation duration toward a male intruder (e) or a female intruder (g) increased after CNO injection in comparison to saline injection in hM4Di non-aggressive male mice. All data are presented as mean ± s.e.m. n = 4 mice. Two-tailed paired t-test (e and g); *P < 0.05.

Source data

Extended Data Fig. 4 Projection pattern of cMPOAEsr1 cells in male mice.

(a) Viral strategy for expressing Synaptophysin-mCherry in cMPOAEsr1 cells. (b) A representative histology image showing the expression of Synaptophysin-mCherry in MPOAEsr1 cells. Scale bar, 1 mm. (c) Quantification of Synaptophysin-mCherry signal in various regions across the brain. For each animal, intensity in each region is normalized by the highest intensity among all regions. (d) Representative images showing Synaptophysin-mCherry signal in various brain regions of a male mouse. LSv, lateral septum ventral part; PVN, paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus; RCH, retrochiasmatic area; PV, periventricular hypothalamic nucleus; ARH, Arcuate hypothalamic nucleus; DMH, dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus; VMHvl, ventromedial hypothalamus ventrolateral part; TU, tuberal nucleus; MeAPd, medial amygdala nucleus posterodorsal part; PMv, ventral premammillary nucleus; PVP, periventricular hypothalamic nucleus, posterior part; PA, posterior amygdala; PAG, periaqueductal gray; SUM, supramammillary nucleus; VTA, ventral tegmental area. All data are presented as mean ± s.e.m. n = 4 mice.

Source data

Extended Data Fig. 5 Monosynaptic rabies tracing reveals strong inputs from both rostral and caudal MPOA to VMHvlEsr1 cells.

(a) Schematic illustration of viral injections for monosynaptic rabies tracing. All viruses were injected unilaterally. (b) A representative image showing expression of mCherry (red) and GFP (green) in the VMHvl. Scale bar, 1 mm. (c) Number of GFP-positive cells per 100 starter cells in the VMHvl in the MPOA on each 30 µm section along the anterior–posterior axis. (d) The total number of GFP-positive cells in the rMPOA (r) and cMPOA (c). The GFP cell number is normalized by the starter cell number in the VMHvl. Two-tailed paired t-test. ns: P > 0.05. (e) A representative image showing starter cells that express both mCherry (red) and GFP (green) in the VMHvl. Scale bar, 0.5 mm. (f) Representative images showing GFP cells in the MPOA from Bregma level 0.2 mm to −0.28 mm. Scale bar, 0.5 mm. All data are presented as mean ± s.e.m. (c,d), n = 4 mice.

Source data

Extended Data Fig. 6 Optogenetic activation of cMPOAEsr1-VMHvl pathway suppresses attack in naive SW males.

(a) Viral strategy for optogenetic activation of cMPOAEsr1-VMHvl terminals in naive SW males. (b) Experimental timeline. (c,d) Representative raster plots showing attack and investigation toward a male intruder in mCherry control mice aligned to sham (c) and light (d) onsets. (e,f) Representative raster plots from a ChR2 test mouse. (g-j) The stop attack latency (g), attack re-initiation probability (h), attack duration per trial (i), and investigation duration per trial (j) toward a C57 male intruder during sham and light stimulation of mCherry control and ChR2 test SW mice. All data are presented as mean ± s.e.m. n = 6 mice for mCherry group and 7 mice for ChR2 group. Two-way RM ANOVA with Sidak’s multiple comparisons test (g-j); *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; Otherwise, P > 0.05.

Source data

Extended Data Fig. 7 Optogenetic inactivation of cMPOAEsr1-VMHvl projection does not induce attack in non-aggressive male mice.

(a) Viral strategy for optogenetic inactivation of cMPOAEsr1-VMHvl terminals. (b) Experimental timeline. (c,d) The average attack duration (c) and investigation duration (d) toward a male intruder during each 20 s sham and light stimulation in stGtACR2 non-aggressive male mice. (e,f) The average attack duration (e) and investigation duration (f) toward a female intruder during each 20 s sham and light stimulation in stGtACR2 non-aggressive male mice. All data are presented as mean ± s.e.m. n = 4 mice. (d and f) Two-tailed paired t-test. All P > 0.05.

Source data

Extended Data Fig. 8 Optogenetic activation or inhibition of cMPOAEsr1-VMHvl terminals is aversive.

(a) Virus injection and fiber placement for cMPOAEsr1-VMHvl terminal manipulation. (b) Experimental timeline. (c) Schematics for RTPP test. (d) Heatmaps showing the body center location of the test mouse before and during light pairing. Blue triangles indicate light-paired chambers. (e) Percentage of time spent in light-paired chamber at the baseline and during light stimulation periods. All data are presented as mean ± s.e.m. n = 5 mice for mCherry group, 6 mice for ChR2 group, and 6 mice for stGtACR2 group. Two-way RM ANOVA with Sidak’s multiple comparisons test. **P < 0.01; Otherwise, P > 0.05.

Source data

Extended Data Fig. 9 One-time defeat strongly suppresses aggression of the loser toward the winner.

(a) Schematic illustration of the assays. (b,c) Latency to attack a non-aggressive BC male intruder (b) and the total duration of attack (c) before and after defeat by the SW aggressor. (d,e) Latency to attack an aggressive SW male intruder (d) and the total duration of attack (e) before and after defeat by the same SW aggressor. All data are presented as mean ± s.e.m. (b-e), n = 7 mice. Two-tailed paired t-test; *P < 0.05; Otherwise, P > 0.05.

Source data

Supplementary information

Source data

Source Data Fig. 1

Statistical source data.

Source Data Fig. 2

Statistical source data.

Source Data Fig. 3

Statistical source data.

Source Data Fig. 4

Statistical source data.

Source Data Fig. 5

Statistical source data.

Source Data Fig. 6

Statistical source data.

Source Data Fig. 7

Statistical source data.

Source Data Fig. 8

Statistical source data.

Source Data Extended Data Fig. 1

Statistical source data.

Source Data Extended Data Fig. 3

Statistical source data.

Source Data Extended Data Fig. 4

Statistical source data.

Source Data Extended Data Fig. 5

Statistical source data.

Source Data Extended Data Fig. 6

Statistical source data.

Source Data Extended Data Fig. 7

Statistical source data.

Source Data Extended Data Fig. 8

Statistical source data.

Source Data Extended Data Fig. 9

Statistical source data.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wei, D., Osakada, T., Guo, Z. et al. A hypothalamic pathway that suppresses aggression toward superior opponents. Nat Neurosci 26, 774–787 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-023-01297-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-023-01297-5

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing