{"id":247028,"date":"2026-11-10T14:08:50","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T20:08:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/11\/a-nose-to-brain-circuit-underlies-anxiety-regulation-by-nasal-afferent-frequency-in-mice"},"modified":"2026-11-10T14:08:50","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T20:08:50","slug":"a-nose-to-brain-circuit-underlies-anxiety-regulation-by-nasal-afferent-frequency-in-mice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/11\/a-nose-to-brain-circuit-underlies-anxiety-regulation-by-nasal-afferent-frequency-in-mice","title":{"rendered":"A nose-to-brain circuit underlies anxiety regulation by nasal afferent frequency in mice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>We utilized optogenetics to selectively control the frequency of OSN activity in <i>OMP\u2013<i>hChR2V<\/i><\/i> mice, in which all mature OSNs express Channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pnas.org\/doi\/10.1073\/pnas.2603853123#core-collateral-r25\" id=\"core-r25-1\">25<\/a>). Stimulation frequencies were determined by referencing the nasal respiration rates of freely moving mice measured using a pressure sensor monitoring the airflow through a cannula implanted in the nasal cavity (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pnas.org\/lookup\/doi\/10.1073\/pnas.2603853123#supplementary-materials\" target=\"_blank\"><i>SI Appendix<\/i>, Fig. S1 <i>A<\/i><\/a>). Based on the distribution of measured breathing rates in quiet awake mice (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pnas.org\/lookup\/doi\/10.1073\/pnas.2603853123#supplementary-materials\" target=\"_blank\"><i>SI Appendix<\/i>, Fig. S1 <i>B<\/i> and <i>C<\/i><\/a>) and documented conscious mouse breathing rates (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pnas.org\/doi\/10.1073\/pnas.2603853123#core-collateral-r26\" id=\"core-r26-1\">26 <\/a>\u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pnas.org\/doi\/10.1073\/pnas.2603853123#core-collateral-r28\" id=\"core-r28-1\">28<\/a>), we categorized 2 Hz as low frequency, 4 Hz as moderate frequency, and 7 Hz as high frequency. Therefore, subsequent OSN stimulation was administered at 2, 4, and 7 Hz to selectively manipulate nasal neural activity at slow, moderate, and fast rates, respectively.<\/p>\n<p>We assessed the anxiety-like behavior effects of manipulating OSNs in mice using the Elevated Plus Maze (EPM) and the Open Field Test (OFT) (Fig. 1A). Notably, low-frequency (i.e., 2 Hz) stimulation significantly increased the time spent in the open arms of the EPM (Fig. 1 B and C) and the central zone of the OFT (Fig. 1 B and D) compared to the control, indicative of anxiolytic effects. In contrast, high-frequency (i.e., 7 Hz) stimulation significantly reduced the time spent in these areas, suggesting anxiogenic effects (Fig. 1 B\u2013D). The moderate-frequency (i.e., 4 Hz) group did not differ significantly from wild-type controls (Fig. 1 B\u2013D). No significant changes in average speed were observed across all stimulation frequencies in both EPM and OFT (<i>SI Appendix<\/i>, Fig. S2A). OSN stimulation at low, moderate, and high frequencies did not significantly alter behaviors in the EPM and OFT in wild-type mice (<i>SI Appendix<\/i>, Fig. S3), ruling out visual artifacts as a confound.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We utilized optogenetics to selectively control the frequency of OSN activity in OMP\u2013hChR2V mice, in which all mature OSNs express Channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) (25). Stimulation frequencies were determined by referencing the nasal respiration rates of freely moving mice measured using a pressure sensor monitoring the airflow through a cannula implanted in the nasal cavity (SI Appendix, [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":662,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[412,47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-247028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-genetics","category-neuroscience"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/662"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247028\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}