Delineating the role of different collicular output pathways in mediating visually triggered aversive behaviors.

Freezing is a ubiquitous innate behaviour that animals across the animal kingdom initiate in response to aversive stimuli. In particular, the overhead presence of small slowly moving, or large looming objects are reliable triggers these behaviours. However, it remains unclear how the brain routes this information from the eye to the muscles that activates behaviour remains unknown. One brain area known to be important for mediating both innate and unconscious visual processing is the superior colliculus. Here we will combine local measures and activation neuronal activity with a more holistic functional brain imaging of the entire brain to delineate the set of brain structures that connect the extraction of biologically important visual indicators of danger and the motor centres that initiate freezing behaviours.