Social isolation uncovers a brain-wide circuit underlying context-dependent territory-covering micturition behavior

Abstract

The controlled and volitional release of urine, or micturition, serves a fundamental physiological function and, in many species, is critical for social communication. In mice, the decision to release urine is modulated by external and internal factors such as environmental stimuli and social history and is transmitted to the spinal cord via the pontine micturition center (PMC). The neural pathways by which social experience and sensory stimuli interact to control PMC activity and regulate micturition are unclear. Here we establish a behavioral paradigm in which mice, depending on their strain, social experience, and immediate sensory context, display either high or low territory-covering micturition (TCM). We demonstrate that social context is represented by coordinated global activity changes in the urination network upstream of the PMC, whereas sensory context is represented by the activation of discrete nodes in the network. Furthermore, we show that the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA), which is directly upstream of PMC, is a key node that can switch micturition behavior between high and low TCM modes.