Stressed, anxious? Ask the brain!


Our actions are driven by ‘internal states’ such as anxiety, stress or thirst – which will strongly affect and motivate our behaviors. Little is known about how such states are represented by complex brain-wide circuits, including sub-cortical structures such as the amygdala. Scientists have now used a deep brain imaging technique to monitor amygdala activity in active mice and revealed the neuronal dynamics encoding behavioral states.