{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"institution":[{"name":"bioRxiv"}],"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,7]],"date-time":"2026-07-07T22:11:23Z","timestamp":1783462283234,"version":"3.55.0"},"posted":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,5]]},"group-title":"Neuroscience","reference-count":71,"publisher":"openRxiv","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,5]],"date-time":"2026-02-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1770249600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.biorxiv.org\/about\/FAQ#license"}],"funder":[{"name":"Max-Planck Society"},{"name":"the European Research Council under the European Union\u2019s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme","award":["no. 885192"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["no. 885192"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,5]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Summary<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>\n                  Efficient orofacial motor control is essential for adaptive interactions with the environment, yet the neural substrates that regulate the force and precision of biting remain poorly understood. Here, we identify a subpopulation of neurons in the central amygdala (CeA) expressing the transcription factor\n                  <jats:italic>Isl1<\/jats:italic>\n                  (CeA\n                  <jats:sup>Isl1<\/jats:sup>\n                  ) that plays a crucial role in modulating biting behavior in mice. In vivo calcium imaging revealed that CeA\n                  <jats:sup>Isl1<\/jats:sup>\n                  neurons are robustly activated at the onset of biting across materials of varying physical properties, with distinct neuronal ensembles selectively encoding responses to the physical properties of the objects. CeA\n                  <jats:sup>Isl1<\/jats:sup>\n                  neuronal activity scales positively with the hardness of the object, suggesting a role in force modulation. Optogenetic activation of CeA\n                  <jats:sup>Isl1<\/jats:sup>\n                  neurons enhances biting behavior toward edible or non-edible objects, induces fictive feeding in the absence of physical targets and exerts a reinforcing effect on behavior, whereas inhibition of CeA\n                  <jats:sup>Isl1<\/jats:sup>\n                  neurons impaired efficient biting of solid food by reducing jaw-closing muscle activity. Projection-specific manipulations revealed that activation of CeA\n                  <jats:sup>Isl1<\/jats:sup>\n                  projections to the parvocellular reticular formation (PCRt) and pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PPtg) increased the duration and frequency of biting, with CeA\n                  <jats:sup>Isl1<\/jats:sup>\n                  -to-PPTg stimulation producing a positive motivational valence. These findings uncover a previously unrecognized sensorimotor function of the central amygdala in calibrating bite force and precision, linking motivational states to skilled motor output.\n                <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.64898\/2026.02.03.703447","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,5]],"date-time":"2026-02-05T10:50:14Z","timestamp":1770288614000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Central amygdala Isl1 neurons control biting by integrating sensory and motivational signals"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-4297-8118","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Wenyu","family":"Ding","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecules \u2013 Signaling \u2013 Development, Max-Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, 82152 Martinsried, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alisson Pinto","family":"de Almeida","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecules \u2013 Signaling \u2013 Development, Max-Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, 82152 Martinsried, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wenkang","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"International Research Institute for Multidisciplinary Science, Beihang University, 100191 Beijing, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chunyu","family":"Qu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Neuro-Cognitive Psychology, Department of Psychology, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, 80802 Munich, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3109-0163","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"R\u00fcdiger","family":"Klein","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecules \u2013 Signaling \u2013 Development, Max-Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, 82152 Martinsried, 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