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. 2021 Oct 20;41(42):8790–8800. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1103-21.2021

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Copyright © 2021 Johnson et al.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided that the original work is properly attributed.

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Figure 1. — Hypothalamic-limbic lordosis circuit. Estradiol acts initially on neuropeptide Y (NPY) neurons in the ARH, which project to and activate POMC/β-endorphin (β-End) neurons. POMC/β-End neurons project to neurons containing μ-opioid receptor (MOR) in the MPN. The release of β-End onto MOR, a GPCR, activates and internalizes these receptors. This activation temporarily inhibits lordosis. Neurons from the MPN reach the VMHvl, the final integrative site in the hypothalamus. Inputs from posterodorsal part of the medial amygdala (MeApd) are GABAergic projection neurons, and also reach the VMHvl to integrate social information with the hormonal input and innervate the MPN. Glutamatergic neurons innervate the MPN and VMHvl as well. 3V, third ventricle; ME, median eminence; OC, optic chiasm. Adapted from Johnson et al. (2020).