Title: To eat? To sleep? To run? Coordination of innate behaviors by lateral hypothalamus
Abstract: Abstract Lateral hypothalamus (LH) is crucial for the regulation of innate behaviors, including food intake, sleep, wakefulness and locomotion. Pathologies of LH are associated with widespread sleep and eating disorders. Recent progress in several technologies, including optogenetics, multisite high-density neuronal recordings and Ca2+ imaging in behaving mice have enabled cell-type specific readout of activity in hypothalamus, as well as identification and manipulation of defined neuronal populations and their projections with high temporal resolution. Here we summarize recent studies characterizing the functions of orexin/hypocretin-, GABA- and MCH (melanin-concentrating hormone)-expressing LH neurons in innate behaviors. Further, we describe how top-down inputs convey information from other forebrain regions to LH and regulate innate behaviors. We then elucidate how spontaneous or optogenetically induced changes of neuronal activity in hypothalamic circuits are translated into behavior.